The Infamous Hogwarts Prankwar of 1977
by FieryBrunette
Summary: It's utter insanity for 7th year students. On top of homework and Quidditch, a new humorous terror plagues the school: the growing feud between the well known Marauders and the unknown Marauderesses. Who will win the prankwar?And who are the Marauderesses
1. First Names & Friends

**Disclaimer: I own none of these characters, unless they are OC and have never been mentioned in the Harry Potter books. Enjoy, read and review!**

* * *

"Psst! Lily!" James Potter stage whispered across the History of Magic Classroom.

_Ignore him Evans_, Lily thought, _Ignore him and he will go away._

"Psstttttttt! Evans!" He continued to whisper as loud as a whisper could be.

_Dammit, why doesn't Binns hear the bloody prat_! She thought furiously.

"Evans!" He hissed. "Evans, c'mon Lily this is important!"

It was the first day of seventh year, your typical every day scene. Lily was glaring determinedly at the teacher while taking notes, James was looking longingly at her, Sirius was flipping his hair like a psychopath with turrets, Remus was too taking notes and Peter was sleeping. To students in the class, nothing was out of the ordinary. It was just another day in Binns' History of Magic class.

"What Potter!" She spat back as quietly as possible.

"Can I borrow your notes?"

_Oh, Jesus Christ, couldn't he take them himself?_ "No I will not!" She almost screamed in annoyance, "Why can't you do it yourself!"

"I've got to draw up quidditch tactics! I can't waste my time on less important issues! C'mon, we are Head boy and girl. Sharing is caring right?" He said frantically, ducking down when she gave him an evil look.

"Fine, but only because you are head boy. Don't ask me why Dumbledore had aneurysm and decided that you were responsible and a good leader. Quidditch doesn't even start for two months!"

"The time is ripe my dear Lillian. Now make haste so I may copy thy notes."

"Fine!" She said furiously, levitating her papers to his desk.

"Honestly, Evans, you need to lighten up!" Whispered Sirius Black, best friend and second in command to the society of hormonal teenage boys, next to James of course.

"I don't need to lighten up! I'm trying to take notes!" She said, though both her parchment and quill lay forgotten on her desk.

"Lily," said James looking up from her notes, "Have you every kissed a boy? Or dated a boy? Or even liked a boy? Face it, you are a little Negative Nancy who just needs to live."

"Yeah Evans," whispered Sirius, "Snogging is great! One of the best hobbies in the world besides quidditch. Don't be such a goody goody. Hey I've got an idea, why don't you pull a prank with us? You could be the first female Marauder! It'd be great! And plus, with all the spare headsie time you get with Prongs, you'll never not have time to play a trick or two."

At this, Lily didn't even need to argue further. She silently pulled out her wand and cast a spell.

"Contumelia Quirito." She whispered with venom.

All of a sudden, Sirius stood up and shouted, "Professor Binns arse smells like a thousand bloody Nifflers in a pile of dragon shit!"

At first, silence, but then the entire class burst out laughing, holding onto their sides as their teacher spluttered in disbelief.

Sirius continued to scream insults and he had to leave the classroom and have Professor Flitwick undo the hex. Lily was on the floor, all dignity lost, clutching her stomach and breaking into musical peals of laughter. James smiled at the sound of her laughter as it filled his head. Any minute he could grasp a memory or thought of Lily, he did and boy did he make the most of it.

When Lily regained her composure, she stood up, dusted herself off and sat daintily down in her seat. She stood up after a few moments, because Binns announced that the class could have free time to catch up on notes, and walked over to James notes, trying to ignore the strange spasms in her stomach.

_I'm so hungry_, she thought, dismissing the other option of the source of the spasms.

"Potter, erm... James I need my notes. Now." She said firmly, as she approached his desk.

"Why certainly Miss Lily, I just finished the--. Wait, did you just call me James?"

"Yes," she replied crossly, "I figure that since we are going to be spending a lot of time together patrolling and planning events that we might want to have a platonic relationship, instead of a hate one."

James had lost her at the word "relationship". He really could care less if she called him Potter or not, but she wanted to be friends.

_Is this heaven? _He thought dreamily as she rambled on, concluding her unheard speech by snatching her notes from him as the bell rang.

Grinning and packing up his things, James Potter walked out of the classroom to lunch, trying to keep his eyes away from his new friend's backside.

* * *

_Ugh, that James bloody Potter, why couldn't he just go jump off a cliff?_

_Because you would miss him too much Evans._

_No I wouldn't. James is alright once you get to know him, but I wouldn't lay my life on the line for him._

_Ummmm, James?_

_Were on a first name basis right now!_/

_And you're glad of this why?_

_Well, I won't have to worry about avoiding Potter this year. Usually when he sees me he tries to ask me out but now he just smiles and_ _says, "Hi Lily."_

_Aw, how romantic._

_Shut up you. I'm not even supposed to be talking to myself. Walk._

Lily walked to the Great Hall, lugging her enormous book bag with her.

People (especially boys) looked at her as she passed them but she continued to ignore them.

Boys were not a factor for Lily Evans in here life. She had no time for them and overall, she thought it was a waste of time. She told everyone this.

None knew however, that she only wanted true love. Like those silly little mushy gushy fairy tales with the prince charming and the fiery dragon. But of course, there was no one like that for Lily Evans. No guy could handle her because she was just... too much. Her friends pointed out that Lily was drop-dead-gorgeous but she simply refused to see it. In her mind, she was fat, short, obsessive compulsive, a nerd, and a delinquent because she knew how to punch people and leave a mark. To say the least, Lily Evans was not like other girls.

"Gracie! Emma!" She called, speeding up and taking her seat at the Gryffindor table, facing her two friends.

"Go away, I want to sleep." Grunted Grace Harlow into the table.

"Yeah me too," Said Emmaline, 'first day back to school and I already want to go home."

"Well then," said Lily, her green eyes sparkling like emeralds, "I guess you don't want to hear what I did to Sirius Black in History."

"What did you do?" Grace said, her head snapping up revealing eyes the color of dark chocolate and hair the color of (as she liked to put it) dung.

Lily sighed, satisfied that her bait had worked. There was nothing Gracie liked to put in pain more than Sirius Black. Ever since first year when Gracie had started making faces at him from behind her book and he started dipping her braids in the inkwell, a full frontal feud had started and nothing, not even detention, could stop it. Lily once asked if it was possible that Gracie might even like Sirius. Needless to say, Lily slept on the common room couch that night. He actually did whistle at Gracie as she walked to class that morning but she just flipped him off.

"Nothing," Said Lily slyly, "I just used a hex that made him swear loudly at the teacher, which got him in detention, I'm sure."

"Ohhh," said Emma, "I wish I could have seen that. Potions is so boring and with me having to work with bloody Remus Lupin all the time."

"Oh, he's not that bad," Lily said through a mouthful of food, "Just quiet and reserved. I wish he would have been picked for Head Boy instead of James. I have to live with that moron all the time. Not to mention I have to leave my best fiends to fend for themselves in the realm of Queen of Bitches, Angelina White."

"Amen." Said Gracie solemnly, raising her hand and placing on her open text book as if it were a bible.

"Well, if you ask me," Emmaline Vance said, her violet eyes sweeping over the table in search for Macaroni and Cheese, "all the Marauders are bad. Knowing them has brought my health no good whatsoever. They are sexist, immature, stupid. Even Remus has a lower IQ just because he hangs out with them."

Lily smiled at her best fiends. What would she do without them?

Emmaline Vance (Emma for short) had black hair and the most unique purple eyes. She loved homework more than Lily did and though she was not as outspoken, held the same views as Lily and Gracie did. She hated boys and even said it was a waste of time just talking to them. Nothing angered her more than a stupid woman with no morals at all.

Grace Harlow... hmm Gracie was a harder person to pin down. She'd dated boys but nothing was promising. She was slender and tall and had an odd obsession with causing Sirius Black pain. When she was on PMS, she got so bad with the nasty comments that Emma and Lily had to leave her alone for a few hours. She had the worst temper out of the all the girls and the evidence on boys faces to show it. Her lack of strength was made up for by the fact that she punched twice as much.

And Lily Evans. Green eyes, red hair that she always wore up because it got "too out of control". She was smart, passionate, strong, a fighter, and usually a rule follower. Usually.

She had never dated a boy in her life and she had only crushed on three since arriving at Hogwarts. Gracie always teased her and called her a prude. True, she had no life. But that was fine with her, for now.

"So how are you, future Mrs. Potter?"

Lily rolled her eyes._ Here we go._ The daily argument: Does Lily love James Potter.

"I am Miss Evans, Gracie. **Evans**."

"Whatever you say babe," said Emma, "just remember, we know your secret."

Currently disgusted with the topic of conversation, Lily stood up grabbed her bag and said "I'll see you guys later." She stalked off.

"Wow, Emma. She is so in denial."

"I know. Did you see her face when you said Mrs. Potter? Priceless. D'you think she'll wake up and realize it soon?"

"Sooner than you think." Said Gracie, digging into her mashed potatoes.

* * *

"Prongs, mate. Why are you smiling at your tuna casserole?" Sirius Black asked, tipping his head to the side.

James looked up, a giant grin plastered o his face.

"Got rid of the loud swearing I see." He said, trying to change the topic.

"Ah ah, not falling for that topic change Jamsie," said Sirius, his grey-blue eyes twinkling as he chewed on his lunch.

James sighed, dipping his head and laughing.

"Fine, Lily said that we were **friends,**" he said excitedly as Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew sat on either side of him, "Friends Padfoot. D'you know what that means? To Evans, I mean Lily, I'll be James. **James**. Not Potter. Not egotistical prat. James!"

His grin faded as his Friends all burst out laughing.

"What?"

"What happened to I'm over Lily Evans?" Said Remus buttering his roll while looking rather amused.

"Ummm. I am!" Shouted James, looking downward as he mumbled into his potatoes.

"Mate, You've got it bad." said Sirius.

"I'm sorry," apologized James sincerely, "she's just so... perfect. Like an angel but even better."

"Ewwww. That's really gross!" Peter said.

"Now that were done discussing Evans, let's get into bigger subjects like... Pranking Snivelly."

"Alright," said James, trying not to stare at Lily as she walked out of the hallway, her red hair swinging behind her. He wished she would wear it down. About two years ago she had sworn off letting her hair down since her mom would not let her cut it. The only time he had seen it down in those entire two years was the time when he had gone to her house over Christmas break to give her her present. She was wearing jeans and a green turtle neck in which her figure fit into perfectly, and he had to stop himself twice from leaning in and--.

'Prongs?!" Shouted his friends.

"Ummm... sorry guys." He said, hiding the blush that was creeping up his neck.

They ignored him and continued to plan the prank. He sighed, _this is going to be a long, long year._

* * *

"He's coming! He's coming!" Shouted Sirius in a whisper.

The Marauders scrambled up from their position on the ground, jumping and hiding behind a statue.

They waited.

And then he came.

Severus Snape sauntered down the corridor, his greasy hair bouncing slightly and his dark tunnel like eyes half open.

"Target in position." Whispered Peter.

"And the audience?"

"Just around the corner, Prongs."Said Sirius, who's grey eyes were wide with delight.

"Okay boys, let's count down." Whispered James, tightening his grip on the prank trigger.

"Do we have to do this?" Remus whined uncertainly.

"Yes, ten. nine..." James started.

"Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One." They counted together.

"Now!" They shouted just as the entire seventh year and Snape rounded the corner.

Suddenly, black, sticky and smelly goo burst forth from the ceiling, covering Snivelly in stink sap. The entire crowd was on the floor in laughter as he slipped around in the goo, trying to grip his wand.

Sirius (who was finally able to stand after practically dying of laughter) pulled out his wand and shouted, "_Plumatas Superio_!" Covering Snape in feathers.

Just when James thought his day could really not get any better, Lily, Emmaline and Grace stalked out of the crowd. Gracie was both trying and failing to hide her grin and Emma had her hands on her hips while the corners of her lips twitched. Lily however, looked livid. Her eyebrows looked conjoined and her lips her pressed together tightly. The entire corridor went silent, and began to disperse, none wanting to face the wrath of Evans.

Snape had ran off, leaving a trail of stinksap and feathers. The Marauders ran, leaving James behind.

"We'll take care of them." Said Gracie and Emma, taking off after the three boys.

"Thanks girls." Lily said, not taking her steely gaze off of James.

Now they were alone. James tried to ignore Lily, but he found it impossible.

"Heads dorm. NOW." Lily said quietly.

Needless to say James began walking. She caught up with him before they had even reached the dorm.

"I can't believe you!"She exploded, shoving him into the wall, "Have you no sense of honor? You. Are. Head. Bloody. Boy. You are supposed to be an example to look up to! James, this is why I can't believe Dumbledore picked you! You don't care about the fact that dozens of first years are gonna pick up what you just did and use it to their advantage! And not to mention Sev will be--

"Snivelly is a git and you know it." James cut her off, "How can you stand up for him after what he said to you two years ago?"

"Because you were the one who prodded him enough to say it." She said, leaving him speechless with outrage.

"Besides," she continued, "pranks are not good to do. Not fun and not healthy."

"Aw, c'mon Lils," said James, putting his arm around her shoulder ignoring her stiffened shoulders, "Pranks are fun. Have you ever even played one? And get used to my arm on your shoulder, if were gonna be working together, we might as well be friends."

"What if I don't want to be friends?" She said quietly, almost to herself.

"Well if you don't now, you will in a few weeks." He said confidently. Lily tried to ignore the fact that her breathing began quickening as she continued to talk to him. It was... strange, being so close to a person she would normally slap upon seeing.

"Well, I'll see you at dinner Lily." He said, startling her out of her thoughts by holding his hand out for a shake.

Lily took it, but at the last second, pulled him into a hug, surprising both of them.

James his closed his eyes as nearly let himself embrace her curvy body. Lily too was experiencing some kind of epiphany. Why was this happening? And to her of all people?

They parted and Lily ran up to her room to do homework and grab some books. James smiled, running a hand through his hair and walking off to find his friends.

As he reached the fourth floor, Gracie and Emmaline walked out of a broom closet looking rather pleased with themselves.

He walked in cautiously and found all of his friends unconscious.

_What amazing women,_ he thought to himself as he bent down to pick up his friends.

* * *

**A/N: This is my first chapter fic. for harry potter fandom. I'd be really happy if you could review and tell me what you think so far! And just a note, the namesake of the story will come into play within the next few chapters.**


	2. Pillowfights & Plans

**Author's Note: Chapter two is here! Yeah! Okay I have to say that this was originally going to be chapter one but it didn't introduce the story well enough in my opinion. Same drill as before, read and critique. NOTE: This takes place two weeks after chapter one does.**

* * *

Two Weeks Later

"Lily, what are you thinking about?"

Lily looked down at her feet where a tall, muscular boy lay on his stomach, making wisps of smoke come out of his wand.

Two weeks ago, had Lily been in this situation, she would have been uncomfortable and stiff but now after just two weeks of living in the same dorm with him she had become so accustomed to him that she didn't even scream when he walked out of his room with nothing on but boxers with snitches on him.

Yeah, he was still annoying and he was still a prick but something, something, had changed about James Potter. Maybe it was the fact that he never asked her out anymore, or never showed off just to impress her. They were friends now and as odd as it seemed, Lily liked it.

There had been moments though, when she almost felt attracted to James. Attracted in the I-want-to-snog-you-senseless way. Of course she had always found an excuse. Indigestion, high blood pressure or a fever. One day as she was watching James (for the first time ever) perform a perfect switching spell in charms, Gracie had bothered to ask what she was staring at. Lily quickly busied herself with her notes, trying hard to ignore the smirks her best friends were giving her throughout the rest of the period.

She snapped out of her daze and looked over him taking in his hazel eyes, biceps built from years of Quidditch training, and his dark black hair that grew in every direction. His eyes, which were fiercely concentrated on his wand, glowed brilliantly in the firelight. Were it not for the fact that he had nudged her out of her reverie, she probably would have been staring at him for much longer (though she would always deny that).

Shaking her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts of her friend, she answered coolly, "I'm just trying to think of an ending to this Transfiguration essay, which is due in two weeks."

She smiled at her and he beamed back, making a sudden thrill seep through her, though she dared not admit it.

It was the smile. The smile, he was giving lopsided, trademark grin that made almost every girl swoon. Lily once prided herself in being immune to it, but now, why did it make her blush so? _C'mon Evans,_ she thought, _pull yourself together. You are his friend right? Don't go get any wrong thoughts about this strictly platonic relationship._

She snapped back to reality as he said, "Lily, you worry way too much about work. Take a break for once!"

"I'll take a break when Sirius decides to actually studies for a test!" Lily shouted playfully, throwing a crumpled piece of parchment at his head.

"Sirius won't ever do that!" He replied, dodging the paper ball with expert reflexes.

"Exactly!" Cried Lily who shrieked as James picked up and pummeled with her with a pillow from the sofa.

Laughing loudly, the head boy and girl began to chase each other around the common room, throwing as many pillows as they could.

Unsurprisingly, the homework lay forgotten on the floor.

"You throw like a girl!" Screamed Lily, whose current weapon/pillow had burst open, leaving behind an explosion of feathers.

"You are a girl!" James shouted, before abandoning his pillow and hoisting her over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes.

He began to parade her around the Head's dorm to an invisible audience, impervious to her please and cries.

"James I'm too fat for you to carry. You're going to get crushed!" She said.

"Lily you are not fat!" He shouted over his shoulder at her as he bounced around the room. Suddenly, Lily gave a great tug on James' arms and they both went crashing to the floor in lack of energy and balance.

"Ow!" They both yelled simultaneously.

When Lily opened her eyes, she found herself on top of James Potter. On top of him!

James was just surprised but didn't say a word. His arms were wrapped almost comfortably around her waist.

"James you prat," She whispered (for a reason not even she knew), "You sir, are going to be the death of me! Let me go!"

She squirmed but he would not let go. The mischievous look in his eyes was gone and replaced with something that was impossible to fathom. It was pain, anguish and...love? She couldn't think. It wasn't Lily could look even further into his eyes, a great big yell filled her ears.

"OI! Prongs!" Sirius yelled from the entrance of the dorm tackling James to the floor right after the poor guy had just managed to stand up. Lily lay on the rug still, confused and flustered as ever.

Breathless, but grinning triumphantly, Sirius stood over James and practically shouted in his ear. "Guess what? Guess what?! I have just successfully bewitched every Slytherin robe to change to vibrant colors every time a Slytherin says my name! Isn't that spectacular?!" He threw an enthusiastic punch in the air, cackling maniacally.

"Just one problem Padfoot," said James amongst Sirius' yelling, "How are you going to get them to say your name?"

Sirius stopped in the middle of a victory pelvic thrust and scratched his head, looking rather deflated.

"Damn you." He muttered evilly.

"How did you get in? This dorm is password protected! And by the way," said Lily, who had stood up and was now leaning with her elbow on James' shoulder, "I'm rather disappointed in the Marauders this year. I beginning to believe you guys are losing your touch with pranking."

"No sodding way!" Both boys shouted as James leaped away from Lily who lost her balance and fell over again as Sirius added, "the password was easy. Who ever picked 'James Potter is master sex god' for the password is far too naive." Before she could get up and tackle James down who was looking sheepish, another voice joined the conversation.

"Could you keep it down!" Shouted a sandy haired boy with amber eyes. Remus Lupin stepped into the room, carrying a book and grumbling to himself about unruly hooligans.

"Moony, my man!" Shouted Sirius calmly, yanking the book from Remus' hands and sending it across the room. Groaning, Remus sat down next to Lily on the floor, not looking happy at all.

Ignoring Moony's entrance, James rounded on Lily and said, "You've never played an honest prank in your life Lils! How can you expect to critique a pranker when you have never been a pranker?"

"Ah, but you forget...," said Lily standing up with a feisty grin that made James' heart speed up, "I have been one of the pranked, so I know how the system works."

"Aw, come off it Evans," said Sirius, who was leafing through Remus' book carelessly, "You couldn't play a prank if your life depended on it!"

"Really Black?" Said Lily whose voice became deadly quiet as she stood over his sitting form.

"Really!" Said Sirius, who now stood and towered over Lily. Everyone around took a step back. As much as the boys hated it, they were afraid of Lily Evans. Her eyes burned into you and they had known form personal experience that she could hit HARD.

"You half-witted moron!" She yelled.

"You cold hearted skank!" He retorted.

That did it. It was far too late for Padfoot.

_It was nice knowing you mate,_ James thought as Lily tackled Sirius down.

SMACK, CRACK&WHAM!

Lily punched and pummeled every part of Sirius she could. She kicked his shins, his groin and anywhere else her foot could have gotten. Sirius probably could have stopped her, but to him, why stop a hot girl from taking control?

"WHAT THE BLEEDING HELL IS GOING ON!" Screamed Gracie as she marched into the room, Emma and Peter in tow.

"Nothing!" Yelled Lily, dusting herself off and standing up, leaving Sirius on the floor, groaning.

"Yeah, and I'm a werewolf," Emma said jokingly, not noticing that all of the Marauders flinched when she said it.

"Evans you little fiery vixen! Get back down here so I can ruff you up!" Yelled Sirius painfully, grabbing Lily's ankle.

"Well," said Lily, ignoring Sirius, "It's just the normal argument: Lily-can't-play-a-prank-to-save-her-life."

"Are you serious?" Gracie said indignantly, brown eyes flashing.

"No, I'm Sirius." Said Sirius cheekily as he stood up, earning himself a kick in the shin from Gracie.

"Besides," Said Emma, "We've done out of line things, you just don't know about them."

"Yeah," added Grace, "and they were bad things."

"What kind of things, love?" Said Sirius, leaning his head on Gracie's shoulder.

"Go to hell, Black!" She shouted furiously, shoving him off as if he were contaminated.

"With you by my side, Gracie, with you by my side." He said in a very appealing voice.

"Ugh, okay. Lily, you are sleeping in the 7th year dorm tonight. I don't care how much head duties you've got. James, find yourself another girl for tonight because Lily is with us."

"Alright, alright." Said James.

"Okay girls, lets go."

"Bye boys!" They called.

Only a tired, painful groan replied.

"Bye Lils." Said James, smiling a small smile at her.

She turned and gave him a fierce hug, knocking the wind out of him for a second. He closed his eyes and breathed in her scent. Smelled like watermelon shampoo and almond poppyseed muffins and--

" But just for the record James," she said in his ear, "My Grandpa plays better pranks then you!"

Then she walked off with her friends, looking back to beam at him only once.

"Mate, you need therapy." Said Sirius, who was already sporting a black eye as he stood up dizzily.

"I agree." Piped up Peter, only earning a disapproving look from Remus.

"I don't," Said Remus, "James, I must say you've done admirably well on Project Lily lately. I'm actually starting to miss her screaming at you every five minutes and you getting slapped every ten or so."

James laughed and plopped down on the couch, picking up and carelessly looking over Lily's essay.

"Nothing to say?" Said Sirius inquisitively, looking at James expectantly.

"If I did, wouldn't I have said it?" Came the reply.

"So, you don't like Evans?" Peter asked in wonder.

"Well, I'm not sure. What do you call it when you can't stop thinking about someone for more than a second, and just being around them makes you want to laugh and cry at the same time?" He asked irritably.

"Love?" Remus said.

"You got it."

"But--" began Sirius.

"No," cut off James, "I'm not going to ask Lily out ever again. That's a mistake I've made far too many times. If I want her to even be my friend, I have to lay low on Project Lily. Sorry boys."

"Why should we be sorry?" Sirius scoffed, "Evans is a little teacher's pet and isn't good enough for any of the Marauders. Harlow, however--"

"You like Gracie?" James asked sharply, like a sword through the air.

"Yeah, but who wouldn't? She's funny, strong willed, and not to mention straight out damn, sexy." Sirius said.

"Why Padfoot, are you in love as well?" Remus asked teasingly.

"Love is below Mr. Pad of Foot." Sirius said.

"Can we go to dinner? I'm starved." Peter complained.

"Alright, let's go." Said Sirius, as if it really pained him to eat.

"Did you tell him not to touch any mashed potatoes or else they will explode?" Whispered Remus to James as Sirius and Peter walked ahead.

"Nope, I thought he would enjoy it more if he found out for himself." James replied cheerily.

* * *

"Ugh! Those bloody Marauders! Why can't they just go take a hike?" Shouted Gracie, her brown hair whipping around as she threw herself onto her bed.

"You're telling me." Mumbled Emma.

"Yeah," Agreed Lily, "I mean, James is my mate and all but they really shouldn't doubt that we can do out of line things. That is so incredible sexist!"

"AMEN!" Shouted her friends with their fists in the air.

"I mean," continued Lily, "It's like we can't do anything but read books to them. Like we have no purpose to them except to give them a chance to look down our shirts. It's disgusting!"

They sat down and thought for a minute. Gracie kept changing her position on restlessness, Emma stared fixedly at the floor and Lily was pacing.

After seven minutes of silence, Gracie looked up and said, "We need to do something. Something they would never expect of us to that will make history at Hogwarts. Something that our Great Grandchildren will talk about centuries from now... But what?"

They thought. Lily, hardest of all. Something insane, but not dangerous. Something to get noticed but to remain anonymous. Something to teach those Marauders that they weren't the best at everything. Lily sifted through all plans of revenge that she could. Beat them up? No that happened too often... Give them detention? No they get that all the time, what could they learn from that? Poison them? No she'd miss James too much. WHAT COULD THEY DO?

Then it hit her.

Like lightning. Like a brick out of the sky. Like a stunning spell. Like a bullet.

"I've got it!" She screamed, leaping up onto her bed and jumping around like a maniac. Her friends looked at her for a minute, probably wondering if she had lost it completely.

Finally, Emma blurted, "What is it?"

Lily stopped jumping and came close to both of them, taking their hands and forming a circle.

"A prank war." She whispered, looking around as if someone might be listening in.

The reaction was definitely not expected.

"WHAT?!" Both girls shouted.

"Shh!" Lily said desperately, "We don't want anyone to hear!"

"Like anyone would," said Gracie loudly, "they are all at dinner."

"What is a prank war?" Asked Emma curiously.

"You've never heard of a prank war?" Asked Lily as if they didn't know how to read.

"Ummm, hello? Pureblood wizards." Gracie said jokingly.

"Well," said Lily, whose voice began to come back to normal level, "when I was in fourth grade at a muggle school, some of the middle schoolers held a prank war. Basically, you prank the school anonymously against a person or a class. In this case, it was one 8th grade class versus another. And this was muggle pranking they were using and it was still bloody amazing. Imagine what we could do with magical pranking? What havoc we could wreak? And it would just be us versus the Marauders, but they wouldn't even know who their opponent was!!!"

Lily stopped to breath hard as her friends broke into huge and evilly satisfied smiles.

"Yes, "said Gracie, "YES. Oh My God this could work so well! We could prank them first and send them an invitation after wards inviting them to join us in a prank war!"

"Yeah!" Shouted Emma excitedly, "I'm sure we can find loads of pranks and spells we can use on them! We can include a list of rules in the invitation! Of course we'll need a secret name and code names for each other like they do. The Marauders, Moony Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs."

"Well that's easy," said Lily, "The Marauderesses. Their worst nightmare is someone else who who's better at pranking. And this time, it'll be a group of girls."

"That's... perfect." Said Gracie in wonderment.

"Let's start writing the invitation and planning the prank now." Said Emma, grabbing a stack of parchment, a quill, ink and sitting down on the floor.

So they did. They planned and plotted the beginning of their prank war until the early hours of the morning. They had forgotten to unlock the dorm, and therefore locked the rest of their dorm mates out. But (as Lily said as she rolled up the parchment and hopped in her bed fully clothed) it was well worth the effort and time.

"Phase One in action in approximately 96 hours." Said Gracie drowsily before falling asleep instantly.

Lily smiled as she fell asleep, though it was not the prank war she was thinking about.

* * *

**A/N/: So what did you think? The prank war will clearly begin either next chapter or the one after that. Any suggestions? Complaints? Pranking ideas? Review and let me know! I really need reviews for this story, please! THANKS FOR READING!**


	3. Invitations & Immaturity

**Author's Note: Third Chapter! Okay, get ready because after two chapters of agony, you shall find why this story is called "The Hogwarts Prankwar of 1977." Read and Review! I need suggestions! For prank, LJ action and anything else. I know you all are not so easily satisfied. How can I improve my amateur writing!? Warning, there is not alot of LJ action in this chapter and I apologize. You are free to verbally beat me with a stick. REVIEW!**

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* * *

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It had been three days since James had actually gotten to talk to Lily. Not that she hated him again or anything (the fact that she waved at him during class proved that), but he didn't understand it.

Lily no longer spent time in the Great Hall to have a mashed potato eating contest with James. She no longer did homework with him. Now, it was all about her friends, Gracie and Emma. James found himself almost resenting her best friends, even though he usually got along pretty good with them. What were they doing to his... hem hem, **not his** Lily?

_Is it a boy issue?_

_Guess again Potter._

_What if she found out about that zit I found on my left shoulder blade and can't get rid of?_

_Are you really that paranoid? _

_No, I just..._

_Love her._

_I do not!_

_Do to!_

_And you would know this how? _

_Because I know what goes through your head every time when she walks in the room, and how you feel when she talks to or smiles at you, or when she bends over to grab her books, how you just wanna reach over and--_

_Enough!_

_Believe it or not Potter, you love her. She's all you need to keep surviving._

Rather disgruntled with his own conscience, James trotted to the common room with his friends as they discussed the diversionary tactics of Quidditch.

"Prongs, don't you think the Wronskei Feint should be banned?" Remus asked pleadingly.

"I don't want to talk about Quidditch."

"Well, what do you want to talk about James?" Asked Peter asked if his life depended on the answer.

"Lily." Whined James.

Suddenly, James looked around and noticed that his friends had left, leaving him to walk back to the Head's Dorm all by himself.

When he entered, an odd sight met his eyes. Gracie, Emma, and Lily were all lying on their stomachs around a small piece of paper. Gracie was (strangely enough) writing it, Emma was leafing through a book with no title and Lily was talking about something, but stopped when she saw him.

In an instant, they sat up, with completely calm expressions on their faces.

"What's that?" Asked James, gesturing to the paper, not noticing Gracie suddenly tensing up.

"Homework," Answered Lily coolly, handing him an Ancient Runes Essay.

"And the book?"

"A magazine." Said Emma just as cool, tossing him Witch Weekly.

"And the discussion?" He asked, rather confused.

"Well, we were discussing whether Amos Diggory or Imos Diggory has a hotter-"

"Okay!" Cut off James, "I can see, that what you're doing is very fascinating, but I have to go." He sprinted up the stairs after giving Lily a good night hug that lasted seven whole seconds (he counted).

Lily sighed happily as he walked back up the stairs to his room.

"You so love him." Gracie said airily.

"Do not. I have no clue what you mean." Lily said, concentrating on changing the invitation back to it's normal appearance.

"That was some amazing spell work Lils," said Emma, who looked at the would be "magazine" as Lily changed it back into her copy of "Pranks for Prats".

"Why thank you Emma." Lily said.

"You know you love him," persisted Gracie, "Did you notice that look she gave him, Em? Pure sweetness. By the way, I call dibs on Maid of Horror, or whatever you call it."

"It's Maid of Honor, Grace, and for your information, I'm not planning to do anything marriage wise and you know it."

"Somehow Lils, I've managed to doubt that. Just admit that you are a teensy weensy bit attracted to him. Admit it! What's not to like! He's one of the hottest guys in our year (next to Black), smart, an athlete, popular and really nice. And he's completely head over heels for you! You've got it all in front of you Lils, you've just gotta grab it." Said Gracie, looking starry eyed as she day dreamed of her best friend's future love life.

"No, Gracie. James and I are just mates. Can you imagine how awkward it would be if we went out? Besides, he's over me. And I couldn't help but notice that you said Sirius Black was hot!"

"I was kidding!" Said Gracie, though she could not bring her eyes up to meet Lily's.

"Yeah okay, whatever." Said Emma, ruffling up the notes they had been taking.

"Mission Prankwar begins tomorrow!" Squealed Gracie.

"Shh!" Said Lily, "Are you sure everything is set to go? No extra spells or cautions to take? And all parts are in place? I don't want the beginning of a legend to be a flop."

"Yes, yes," said Emma, purple eyes shining with eagerness.

"And the invitation?" Gracie said, her eyes like melted pools of chocolate as she too nearly screamed from excitement.

"Ready to go along with the rules," Confirmed Lily, "All we have to do is magically send it at exactly five point five minutes before class begins. We want them to get it when they are together and from my research, they all have first period together so they'll be able to receive it together as a group and look it over before writing a reply."

The girls sat in silence.

"We could get in horrible trouble." Said Emma worriedly.

"Yes but this is our last year, and therefore, I think we should go out in style." Gracie said.

"I agree. Just promise girls that this won't mess up our friendship in any way or our homework time."

"Agreed." Her friends chorused.

"Alright, shall we get ready for a long day ahead of us?" Lily asked.

"Let's." Said Emma.

* * *

"Phase One, commence." Said Emma, nearly shaking with nervousness.

It was eight o'clock A.M. in the Great Hall. To all teachers and students, it was normal. The girls hadn't gotten any sleep like they had aimed for and had got up at an unseemly hour to go down and make sure everything was set up right. Since it was a Friday and a half-day at that, the girls were extremely happy that they were allowed to sleep right after their second class instead of their sixth. Gracie had suggested they just blow the day off, but Lily and Emma said it might make them look suspicious. Surprisingly, they had perfected their look enough so it looked like they had gotten a full night of sleep.

"The targets, said Marauders?"

"In position."

"Time."

"Eight o... nine."

"Six more minutes."

"I have to pee."

"Gracie! Why didn't you empty your damn bladder before we got in here?"

"Well I didn't have to go then!"

"Ugh, okay just... hold it, or go in your pants."

"Fine." They waited tentatively in the Entrance of the Great Hall behind the pillar.

"Three minutes." Emma whispered.

"I'm gonna throw up." Lily said.

"I'm gonna pee my pants!" Countered Gracie.

* * *

"Ugh! I'm starving!" Yawned Sirius.

"Join the club." Said James, who looked sadly at Peter who was asleep on the table.

"For once, I too am also hungry." Said Remus.

"Alright then, let's dig in!"

Sirius dumped the entire platter of eggs 'n ham on his plate, knocking the salt off the table. He bent down to pick it up from under the table. And then he sat up and began to dig in.

_Where did the eggs go?_

He blinked, and picked up his plate to look under it. No eggs. Where the bleeding hell did his breakfast get to?

"Whoa," Said James," Padfoot, I know you pride yourself in eating at an alarmingly fast rate, but two seconds for an entire platter? I hope you don't get sick."

"But I didn't eat my eggs!" Said Sirius, who continued to look under and around his empty plate.

"Yeah, okay." Said James as he began to eat his pancakes smothered in blueberry syrup, but there was nothing on his plate.

"Umm... guys? Did you take my food?" James said rather bewildered.

"No, in fact, I was just about to enjoy my own toast with margarine but it wasn't on my plate." Remus said just as confused as his friends.

"What about food?" Said Peter, whose drool had covered his shirt and face.

James reached forward and put a hash brown on his plate. Then it just disappeared, as if it could apparate or something.

"Sirius, pass the waffles."

"I like waffles, especially Belgium ones," said Peter sleepily.

Sirius did and just as both the hash browns had, they disappeared. Now all Marauders were wide awake and began piling their plates with food, which kept disappearing. They tried everything. Ketchup, syrup, milk, orange juice, bacon, more waffles. Nothing would stay!

Five minutes later, at least half of the food was gone off the Gryffindor table. All four boys were beside themselves. Not only would food on plates disappear, but also food on forks, spoons, knives and drinks in cups!

Suddenly, students all around the hall began to notice that a cloud was gathering over the middle table. The Marauders didn't notice it, seeing as they were trying to find out what on earth was going on. Even teachers began to notice that something was going wrong.

James noticed that the sun was going down outside and he could no longer see.

_Damn the sun._

_But... wait... It's morning. Why would the sun be going down?_

As if they were all hit with the same thought, the Marauders all looked straight up, but none were prepared for what was about to happen.

SPLAT/SQUISH/SHLOP

The entire breakfast, every entree on the table that had been put on their plates, landed all over the four boys. Pancakes, eggs 'n ham, blueberry syrup, hash browns, juice, milk, ketchup, you name it, it landed on them. As all of the food landed on their heads, it seemed that time had stopped.

_I hope Lily doesn't see me like this._ Thought James.

_Aw crap, this is my favorite shirt!_ Thought Remus miserably.

_My hair! My gorgeous, beautiful hair! _Mentally screamed Sirius.

_I like waffles.._ Thought Peter as one landed flat on his face, covered in ketchup.

The food must have continued to fall for a full ten seconds, which is saying quite a lot considering gravity and all. And the suckish things was, it only seemed to fall on them! They tried to wipe it off but it seemed to stick. Finally the food ceased falling and the entire hall was silent for a moment, and then burst into laughter. Thankfully, James' immense blush was hidden by the fact a platter of ketchup and eggs was covering most of his face. Both muggle and magical cameras started flashing and they began to hear students say "Hogwarts Yearbook: funniest moment" and "Whoever thought of this was pure genius!". Even the teachers found this rather enlightening and found themselves laughing along merrily.

McGonnagal had walked down to the breakfast table right where they were standing and (taking care not to dirty her shoes) said, "I'm not sure if this is your doing or someone else's, but I want you four completely clean before your first class. Ugh! The immaturity of it! And if you are not spic and span by your next class, you will be dragged into your next class no matter how little clothing you have on... Now go!" She shouted as the Marauders scampered off waving to the hysterical crowd and she vanished all of the mess.

Twenty Minutes Later, all Marauders were clean and dry and ready to go to their next class, but their books and parchment were soaked through and Remus said they would have to reorder.

"Hey, James you got a quill that's not using syrup as ink?" Said Sirius, who was already writing his note to Flourish and Blotts.

James reached into his pocket and instead of a quill, pulled out a small note written in blueberry syrup.

**_Courtesy of the Marauderesses_**

**_

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_**

Ten minutes before charms started, the four friends sat around James' desk, staring fixedly at the scrap of paper.

"I hate it when people steal our own idea." Pouted Sirius.

"They could just be crazed girls who are madly in love with us." James said cockily.

"Yeah but why bother writing the note in blueberry syrup?" Remus asked.

"Because they did the prank." Said Peter, making them all look at him in wonder.

"Peter that... makes sense for once," Said James, "but how do we know for sure it's them?"

"Only time can tell the truth, mates. Let's just wait."

So they waited for five minutes. The air was so tense it was hard to breath.

"I CAN'T STAND IT ANY LONGER!" Screamed Sirius, who unearthed a piece of scrambled egg from his shirt.

As if on cue, a letter popped up on James' desk. All Marauders dove forward and tore it open. Hesitantly, as if it were a howler, they began to read it.

**_Dear Marauders,_**

**_Congratulations on surviving our first test. Obviously your intelligence level is low enough to the point where you would actually let the food fall on you without trying to immobilize it. _**

**_Questions? Yes, we did prank you. Yes, it was hard though simple work. And yes we believe that you guys are Ego-maniacal Idiots who are about to get proven wrong. You say you are the greatest prankers Hogwarts has ever seen. You're not. Which is where we come in. _**

**_After years of research on the Art of Pranking, we have concluded that you are only the best because no one has tried to outdo you._**

**_We are here to do that._**

**_We the Marauderesses hereby invite said "Marauders" to compete against us in a full-on prank war. This prankwar will last into late May just two weeks before exams, seeing as we like to be Outstanding Students. If you chicken out, we wreak havoc and prove openly that we are better Prankers, if you accept, write a reply in about 24 hours time and in return you will receive the rules and regulations to the prank war. Were sure that the Mr. Moony (the smarter one of your group) will be able to some up with a reasonable answer. Thankfully for you, we are patient with creatures with such low brain activity._**

**_Farewell Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. We wish you a lovely day._**

**_sincerely,_**

**_Midnight, Freckles and Frown_**

**_A.K.A. The Marauderesses_**

They finished reading and sat in both shock and excitement.

"A prank war." Said Sirius, sounding faint.

"Against... girls." Said Peter.

"Whose up for it?" Asked James eagerly.

"Wait." Said Remus, "there are a lot of things to consider and we don't even know who we are dealing with."

"C'mon Moony. Lighten up. What are we going to lose against a bunch of girls?" Sirius said, taking out some parchment.

"Our dignity? Our sanity? Our minds?" He huffed, irritated.

"No we'll be don't seem too bright anyway." Said James.

Oh, how very wrong he was.

* * *

Lily, Gracie and Emma were down in the kitchens. I had certainly been a day worth celebrating.

Nothing went wrong, they pranked successfully and they managed to shut the Marauders gloating up for a day or so.

After school, they decided to party and that's what they did. A sundae buffet was laid out on the counter and Lily and her friends were digging into enormous bowls of ice cream.

"We are so immature." Said Lily, taking a huge bite.

"Sometimes in life, being immature is what it takes to win." Said Emma wisely.

"Yeah, but a prank war? Don't get me wrong, I nearly died from laughter at the looks on their faces, but what if we get caught?"

"We won't get caught. Were the Marauderesses!" Said Gracie.

"I can't believe we came up with those nick names. Midnight Freckles and Frown." Said Lily laughing.

"They work though!" Began Emma, "I'm midnight because of my dark black hair, you Lils, are freckles because you've got them all over your cheeks, and Gracie is always frowning. It fits perfectly!"

"Okay. Whatever. I just wanna eat my ice cream." Said Lily, digging into her peppermint scoop.

"When do you think the reply will come?"

"I'm not sure," said Emma also digging into her rocky road, "I heard them talking to each other and they have already started working on their reply. The rules are ready to send off, we just need their reply."

They continued eating in silence for a moment.

"We are so immature." Said Gracie, shaking her head.

"How so?"

"We are about to wage a prank war against the hottest, most popular boys in school without them knowing its us. We have to master pranking in about a week. On top of all this, we are trying to prove to the world that men are evolutions failure. Is there anything more childish?"

Lily burst out laughing at the hypocrisy of it. All her life she hated people who broke the rules, but now, she was joining them.

"Okay so," said Emma, once she had finished helping Lily off the floor, "Now that we are well into the year, I think we should discuss our crushes, because you know you've got one."

"None." Said Gracie a little too quickly.

"Who is it?" Asked Lily, her green eyes lighting up at the source of gossip.

"I don't have a crush! Especially not on Sirius Bloody Black!"

"Who said anything about Black?" Said Lily mischievously, making Grace flush and mutter into her ice cream, "I don't know."

"I don't! I swear!" Yelled Gracie as her friends high fived, "There's nothing to like! He bugs the bleeding hell out of me and you know it. What about you and James, Lily?"

"Just friends." Answered Lily breezily, despite the weird flip her stomach performed upon hearing the word "James".

"And you Emma?" Said Gracie, grinning evilly as Emma's eyes widened in mock fear.

"No one." She said, though they didn't miss the light blush on her cheeks.

"Oh My God, you have a crush! Who?" Screamed Lily.

"No one." Repeated Emma, her purple eyes flashing in irritation.

"Is it Remus?" Asked Lily.

Emma's face was all they needed to know the answer.

"YES!" Gracie shouted, "Oh this is so adorable! Lily how did you guess?!"

"Well, I saw her blush the other day when he walked past her, so I just figured."

"No I don't like Remus," said Emma, more to herself than anyone else.

"Okay fine whatever." Gracie said disbelievingly.

Emma was about to open her mouth to shoot back a comment when a letter popped up on Lily's lap, making her shout through a mouthful of ice cream.

"It's here! The reply is here!" Gracie cried, her ponytail bouncing as she jumped and down excitedly.

Lily opened it and they all began to read it over her shoulder.

**_Dear Marauderesses,_**

**_We accept your invitation to join the prankwar. Though we warn you, we are highly skilled prankers and wish to tell you that the outcome of this prankwar will be in our favor no doubt. We would also like to point out that we are clearly not as un-intelligent as you think because we managed to get this letter to you without use of an owl._**

**_You obviously know who we are but we are wondering, who are you? You're obviously semi-smart, talented with magic and have got terrible handwriting (we could barely read your letter). We have a few guesses as to who you might be but would you please tell us? Mr. Padfoot would like to add that you are the ones with the egos._**

**_So once you have finished deciding whether or not you are going to chicken out, let us know and send the rules. But know this: when we find out ho you are, we will get revenge on what you did this morning and (though Mr. Moony admits regretfully that it was a brilliant idea) make sure you never dare to threaten us again._**

**_Till we prank again,_**

**_The Marauders_**

**_A.K.A. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs_**

**_P.S._**

**_Mr. Moony would like to suggest politely that you reconsider because he hates fighting._**

**_Mr. Wormtail would like to ask if you girls like waffles._**

**_Mr. Padfoot would like to say bring it on and that he looks forward to kicking some wimpy, girly butt._**

**_Mr. Prongs would like to say that girls shouldn't try to do something they were never good at in the first place._**

"The nerve of them! My writing is legible!" Shouted Gracie, digging furiously into her ice cream, finishing it in one bite.

"Well, they don't know who we are. Should we tell them?" Said Emma looking unsure.

"No Em. We can't," said Lily her green eyes narrowing, "If we told them, they would prank us every chance they got. They want revenge, but were not going to let them get it."

"AMEN!" Shouted Gracie.

"I think this calls for another round of ice cream ladies. Peppermint or chocolate?" Said Lily happily, opening the fridge.

"Both!" Shouted her friends, not even caring that it was way past their bedtime.

Lily filled the bowls and they all sat down, their knees touching.

"To the Marauderesses and a kick ass prankwar!" Gracie shouted, her brown eyes glistening.

"To the Marauderesses!"

* * *

**A/N/: This was a rather hard chapter for me to write and I rather resent it. I'm not sure if Emma and Remus will ever get together because it doesn't justify my belief that Tonks was the only girl Remus ever had a relationship with. Please please please Review! For those of you that have been reviewing, I thank you very much. I'll try to get another chapter posted up in about two weeks. It's really hard to update now because I'm in a college prep school with total idiots for classmates, minus the occasional best friend. Okay I rambling. Review and ask question if you need to. THANKS! AND PLEASE REVIEW!**


	4. Raging Hormones & Regulations

**A/N: Okay this is chapter four, if you haven't noticed.** **I really tried to get a lot of LJ action in here as well as another pairing (read to find out!), as much as I could without separating from the Prankwar and getting them together. This chapter is one to pay attention to character-wise, seeing as there is a lot of insight on mostly everyone. ****

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The next day, everyone at the Gryffindor table was eating cautiously. No one wanted to experience the food waterfall that had hit the Marauders yesterday morning. The only people who seemed to be eating with any ease at all were Gracie Harlow, Emmaline Vance and Lily Evans. They seemed to be (according to gossipers) giggling about Gracie getting peppermint ice cream allover her front.

On the other end of the table, the Marauders sat. Tense and vigilant. Only Peter (who was happily eating his new favorite waffles and ketchup) seemed to be relaxed out of all of his friends. James and Sirius were talking in low voices and Remus was reading a book titled "Surviving Newts: What to know and How to know it".

"Do you think the rules will come soon?" Said James, looking over the table for a letter.

"No," said Remus, "I think well get it tonight in a more private area, where we won't be disturbed."

A letter appeared on Sirius' plate.

"IT'S HERE! THE REPLY IS HERE!" He shouted, scrambling to open it up.

"Wait. Padfoot don't." Began James as he recognized the scarlet envelope.

Too late.

As soon as Sirius opened it, the letter leaped from his hands and a loud, clear and oddly familiar voice filled the room. It sounded annoyed, determined and headstrong. Not too patient at all. James could have sworn he had heard the voice somewhere in this same tone, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"DEAR MARAUDERS." The voice shouted across the hall, making many students turn around and stare directly at the four boys.

"WE ARE PLEASED THAT YOU HAVE ACCEPTED OUR INVITATION IN A PRANKWAR. THE RULES AND REGULATIONS ARE JUST ABOUT TO BE DISCUSSED SO THAT THE ENTIRE SCHOOL MAY KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON AND WHO IS PARTICIPATING."

Students began to whisper excitedly at the word 'prankwar'. Lily, Gracie, and Emma talked excitedly too, acting along so as not to stand out. The voice carried on now addressing the entire school.

"TO MOST OF THE STUDENTS AND FACULTY, MOONY, WORMTAIL, PADFOOT, AND PRONGS ARE KNOWN AS THE BEST PRANKERS. THEY AREN'T."

"THIS YEAR THE MARAUDERS WILL BE COMPETING AGAINST US (THE ANONYMOUS MARAUDERESSES) IN A PRANKWAR. THIS WILL CONCERN THE STUDENT BODY BECAUSE YOU WILL BE TH JUDGES. EVERY WEEK, EACH TEAM WILL PERFORM UP TO TWO MAJOR PRANKS AND THREE MINOR PRANKS. THOSE WHO ARE PRESENT TO WITNESS THE PRANKS, VOTE AT THE END OF EVERY WEEK BY LABELING A SINGLE PIECE OF PARCHMENT LABELED EITHER MARAUDERS OR MARAUDERESSES AND SEND IT MAGICALLY BY TAPPING IT TWICE AND SAYING, SUFFRAGIUM."

"DON'T WORRY DEAR MARAUDERS; WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CHEAT, BECAUSE ALL VOTES ARE AUTOMATICALLY SENT TO A SCOREBOARD POSTED IN THE FOURTH FLOOR CORRIDOR. THIS BOARD CANNOT BE REMOVED NY ANY MEMBER OF THE FACULTY OR STUDENT BODY SAVE FOR THE MARAUDERESSES ONCE THE PRANK WAR IS OVER."

"NO ONE CAN VOTE MORE THAN ONCE A WEEK FOR ONE TEAM. PARTICIPANTS IN THE PRANK WAR ARE NOT ALLOWED TO VOTE AND ANY STUDENTS SEEN TRYING TO CORRUPT OUR FLAWLESS SYSTEM WILL BE CRUSHED AND PUMMELED BY YOURS TRULY."

"FOR QUESTIONS, COMMENTS OR COMPLAINTS, PLEASE WRITE TO US BY OWL. JUST WRITE THE MARAUDERESSES ON THE FRONT OF THE ENVELOPE AND IT'LL GET TO US. TEACHERS PLEASE NOTE THAT ANY INTERFERENCE OF THIS PRANKWAR WILL RESULT IN THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ANY VALUABLE ITEMS YOU POSSES, INCLUDING YOUR UNDER GARMENTS. THE ONLY PERSON AUTHORIZED TO STOP THE PRANK WAR IS US OR PROFESSOR DUMBLEDORE."

"AS FOR CONSEQUENCES. IF THE MARAUDERS WIN, WE THE MARAUDERESSES WILL REVEAL OUR IDENTITY AND BE PERMANENTLY SHAMED, IF THE MARAUDERS LOSE HOWEVER, WE GET TO GIVE THEM A FULL MAGICAL MAKEOVER ON THE FIRST DAY OF EXAMS. THE FINAL TALLY WILL BE GIVEN MAY 23RD, THE DAY BEFORE EXAMS."

"THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME."

SINCERELY,

MIDNIGHT, FRECKLES, AND FROWN

A.K.A. THE MARAUDERESSES

P.S.

MS. MIDNIGHT WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT THE MARAUDERS ARE SEXIST, FAKES, EGO MANIACS AND WAFFLE LOVERS (PARTICULARLY MR. WORMTAIL)

MS. FRECKLES WOULD LIKE TO ADD THAT THE MARAUDERS ARE ALL SLIMY GITS, THOUGH HILARIOUS GITS AT THAT.

MS. FROWN WOULD LIKE TO CONCLUDE THAT SHE DESPISES THE MARAUDERS WITH A BURNING PASSION AND WOULD LOVE TO PERSONALLY BEAT THEM ALL UP.

The letter burst into flames and the entire room burst into applause in excitement.

James turned to his friends with a venomous look on his face.

"This means war." He spluttered.

"Well we better start planning a prank, gents." Said Sirius, rubbing his coarse hands together maliciously.

"I've heard that voice before." Said Remus quietly.

"Well obviously, it's someone we've met but don't know that well," Said James all-knowingly, "trust me, if my Lily was one of the Marauderesses, I would know."

"Your Lily?" Said Sirius slyly.

"Yes... I mean no! I... ugh. Forget it. Well find out sooner or later who those little girls are."

"I don't know about you guys," said Sirius, shaking his shaggy hair and winking at a Hufflepuff 7th year that burst into tears and ran off yelling about 'undying love for Sirius Black', "I think the one who was doing the speaking was real hot. I could tell. She sounded so solid and real."

"Yeah well, I wouldn't say that just now, for all we know, we could be against Snivelly in his real personality for all we know." Said James, sipping his tea.

"Okay, don't make me lose my breakfast Prongs," Said Sirius jokingly, "But really, who do you think it is?"

"Obviously someone, hot, sexy and smart." Said James.

"I certainly hope you weren't talking to Sirius about himself, Potter."

Speaking of Marauderesses...

James turned around and found himself staring at three beautiful girls. He would have instantly asked the three of them out if he had not known before hand that he would be killed. Though the three girls were equally pretty, he focused on the one in the middle. The red head.

Lily smiled happily at him and sat down to his right, shoving Sirius off the bench and onto the floor.

"I heard you need some help eating pancakes. Ten galleons say I beat you and eat the most."

"You're on," Says James, "Sirius and Gracie, will you please fill our plates?"

"Sure," they both said, before leaning in to grab pancakes and smacking heads.

"Ow! You arse, Black. Why did you get your air-filled Head in the way?" Gracie shouted, rubbing her forehead and glaring at him.

"Me?! That was all you! If you hadn't been so bloody slow in grabbing the plate, the collision wouldn't have happened it the first place!"

Lily rolled her eyes and grinned at James, and he grinned back.

"Girls are always screwing things up!" Muttered Sirius, "First those bloody Marauderesses and now this and--

He doubled over in pain as Gracie kneed him in the groin shouting, "You sexist bastard!" And sitting down huffily, while piling a dozen pancakes onto both James and Lily's plates.

"So," said Emma both innocently and conversationally as she sat next to Remus, "What's with this prankwar?"

"It's all a stupid matter of pride." Said Remus, his sandy brown hair glinting in the sun shining through the window.

"Aren't you curious to know who your opponent is?" Said Gracie, pouring syrup onto the pancakes and rolling her eyes at Sirius, who was lying on the floor groaning about 'his wounded pride and joy'.

"Yeah, but we've got a few ideas on how to catch them in the act!"

"Like what?" Said Gracie, who was now filling an emergency glass of orange juice just in case either James or Lily started choking.

"Advertising for a free date, of course!" Said Sirius, who popped up from under the table and was now leaning on Gracie's shoulder, "No girl can resist anyone of us, minus Peter."

"Hey!" Peter shouted through some ketchup and waffles.

"Only kidding Wormtail."

"Haven't you considered the fact that these Marauderesses might be immune to your so called charm?" Said Gracie irritably, glaring at the head on her shoulder, though Lily silently noted how her eyes softened when Sirius grinned cheekily up at her.

"But Gracie darling," Said Sirius, "if you're not immune to me, who else could possibly be?"

"Get off Black." She growled, shoving him on the ground again and taking out a stop watch.

Lily and James looked at each other and silently asked, _Could they be any more perfect for each other?_

"Alright guys. You've got five minutes to eat as many pancakes as you can. Right now you've got two dozen on each plate. No tickling or spells. Ready. Set. Go."

James and Lily dug in. Two pancakes later, James looked over at Lily and smiled a syrupy smile. And then he dug back in.

Lily was scarfing it. She had purposely not eaten anything that morning just so she could beat James. She would win this and the prankwar. How fulfilling.

James looked over a Lily again and wished he hadn't almost immediately. She was bent down so far over her pancakes that he could see a tiny bit of cleavage down her black v-neck that he was sure one of her friends had forced her in. Her emerald eyes were narrowed in concentration and her dark eyebrows scrunched up as she continued to chew. Her nearly flawless skin (minus a few dainty freckles on her cheeks and nose) was pale and soft and (though James had never touched it) looked like milk and honey. Her hair was put up in a messy bun. James always noticed that neither Lily nor her friends ever put their hair down except Emma when she didn't have enough time to pin her long, black hair up. He knew that if Lily did wear her hair down, it would have been pooling down her shoulders in long auburn tresses.

_Damn, that girl is something else._

"And... time!" Shouted Gracie, making him jump.

"And the final tally. Lily, 23 pancakes. James, 14?"

The group froze. James lost an eating contest? Impossible!

"Well," said Lily rather satisfied, "It seems that you, Mr. Potter, owe me 10 galleons. You can cough up at Head's Duties tonight." James noticed with slight regret that she had sat up straight and her cleavage was no longer visible.

"Alright." He said, refusing to take his eyes off Lily's face.

"Oh, James. You've got some syrup on the corner of your mouth." Before he could wipe it off, Lily gently pressed a thumb to the corner of his mouth, removing the syrup and faintly brushing his bottom lip. What seemed like a jolt of electricity, shot through her as she touched him.

_Why did I just touch James Potter's lips?_

The entire group stared at them both for a minute, as if praying for something to happen.

"Well," interrupted Gracie, "I'd love to stay and gab all day but we have homework and Lily here is much stressed. Toddle loo!" She cooed, as her and Emma dragged Lily out of the hall.

"What the hell was that?" Said Sirius incredulously, wincing as he sat up a little straighter.

"I agree." Said Remus.

"What?" said James, "It was just a friendly gesture!"

"But the... way you looked at each other. It was as if you were like connected by some invisible string." Said Sirius as Remus nodded.

"Well, we're good friends." James said, beginning to finish off his pancakes.

"Yeah okay." Said Sirius moodily as he began staring at his plate.

"What now?" Said Remus, "If it hurts, just grab a bag of ice and stick it in your pants."

"It's not that. I don't even know what it is. Gracie is just...so amazing. I can't believe I hated her for the first six years of school. Now, I can't see how I could ever have hated her."

"Really?" Said Remus with amusement.

"Yeah. She's just got these... eyes that reveal everything about what she's feeling. Maybe it's just me, but even when she pretends to be mad or angry, I can sometimes tell that she's feeling something else. And her smile? The most brilliant thing I've bloody ever seen. And she's so... fiery and headstrong. Like a rock!"

"Very nice comparison Padfoot," James snickered, earning the middle finger in return, "If you're so attracted, why don't you just ask her out, snog her and get it over with?"

"Because..." Sirius replied, "Gracie is different. I want to seem smart around her. Not just extremely handsome and talented. She makes me want to... this probably sounds insane but... she makes me want to grow up a little."

"Wow. A grown up Sirius Black," said Remus laughingly, "Have you even heard of such a thing?"

"Nope, can't say I have Moony." Said James, as Sirius moaned trying to walk away to be with his own thoughts.

* * *

"Oh. . . What was that?" Gracie shouted hysterically to Lily when they got back to the common room.

"Nothing," said Lily looking at the small drop of syrup that was still on her fingers," James had syrup on the corner of his mouth and I wiped it off. What's the big deal?"

"What's the big deal, she asks?" Said Emma to Gracie, her violet eyes flashing.

"The big deal is, you gently and sweetly touched James Potter! The only time you usually ever touch him is when you hurt him, and the look you two gave each other? There was absolute **passion** in that glance. How could you not have felt it?"

"Because there was nothing there." Lily snapped, though deep inside her mind she kept playing that moment over and over.

"Do you even realize how in love you are with him?" Said Emma, staring dreamily off into space.

"No! Now can we just drop the subject of our pathetic love lives and do something fun?"

"Why?" Said Gracie, looking around the room as if there weren't anything else to do.

"Cause what's the point in talking about something we will never even have?" Said Lily, her eyes saddening as she spoke.

"Who's to say you are not going to fall in love?" Said Emma incredulously, sitting at her red head friend's feet and patting her on the knee.

"I say because I'm Lily Evans. Enough said."

"Lily, Oh My Lord. You are beautiful. You've got a hot bod, cherries for lips and colorful features that light up the room. And you are smart, but like the rest of us tough girls, guys are afraid of you. But James isn't."

"That's because James is James." Lily said unhappily.

"You now what? Shut up right now," said Gracie, sitting down next to Lily and putting an arm on her shoulder, "You got lucky in the good looks department, be thankful for that. You have a figure and if you say that you're fat one more time, I'm gonna stick this quill up your bloody arse."

Lily laughed and said, "I'm sorry for being a baby. What would I do without you guys? It's just, Sirius said about a week ago that I needed to get out and live and sometimes... I have a feeling that defying society isn't the way to make the most of my life."

"And you listened to what that sexist prat said to you?" Gracie demanded.

"Well, if you fall in love, go for it." Said Emma, her ebony hair spilling to the floor as she undid her low pigtails.

"What about you guys?" Asked Lily quietly, "Do you ever wonder what it would be like to stop fighting society and join it?"

"Yeah. In fact," whispered Gracie, "when we were talking to the boys a few minutes ago, and Sirius laid his head on my shoulder, I suddenly got this sudden urge to... ugh this is so gross... but... I got this sudden yearning to **kiss **him. Is that sick or what? He probably put some kind of fatal attraction shampoo in his hair, the bloody moron."

"You wanted to kiss him?" Asked Emma abruptly.

"Only for a moment Em, just for a second."

The girls sat together quietly for a few minutes, staring at the fire and thinking about secret wishes and desires they possessed.

The silence was broken as Lily burped loudly and said, "Must be the pancakes."

"Is it me, or are we all just extremely tired?" Emma said, yawning.

"Yeah, I am very exhausted." Agreed Lily sleepily as she lay down on the couch.

"Yes, well, goodnight Marauderesses." Gracie whispered as she too lay down next to her friends and fell asleep instantly.

* * *

James walked into the Heads Room and found the love of his life and her two friends on the couch fast asleep. It had been two hours since he last saw them because he had gone out to play Quidditch with Remus, Peter and Sirius.

Without making a single sound (minus cracking up at the situation) he levitated Emma and Gracie back up to their own rooms in the 7th year girl's dorms. As for Lily, he preferred to do it himself without magic.

Slowly and tentatively, he gathered her up in his arms in a cradle-like position and carried her up, up, and up to her private room in the Head's Dorms, all the while straining to keep from leaning down and kissing her in the open position she was in.

Laying her down on her bed, he wrapped her in a blanket, in which she curled up in like a small child. This was the first time he had ever seen her asleep and he took the one chance he had to take in every detail about her.

Like he had noted earlier that morning she was he exact definition of perfect. Her eyes were closed, yet her lids still fluttered oh-so-slightly revealing long auburn lashes. There was the smallest smile on her face and she was obviously dreaming about a pleasant something.

_Or someone..._ He thought, not even daring to fathom who his new friend might be attracted to.

Whenever he saw Lily, whether it was in the hallway or in class, she always had a hard expression on her face that rarely ever let her emotions show. Seeing her like this, in a full state of vulnerability, made him even more in love with her than before. The fact that she was strong enough to master her emotions made her even more amazing. Her lips, which were no longer covered in syrup, were pink and pristine. They looked like a pink rose-bud about to bloom. Oh, if only he could kiss that bud and make it bloom.

He hesitated and then (after looking around to make sure no one was looking) brushed his lips against her flushed, warm cheek. It tingled where her skin had touched his.

He wrote a note, stuck it on her bedside table, and then strolled out of her room, silent, but beaming with satisfaction.

* * *

Four hours later a pair of emerald eyes opened and Lily smiled, remembering the dream she had just had.

_Wait, why was I dreaming about kissing James? _

_Because you want to kiss him. Period._

_No I don't! We are just friends!_

_Yeah, well keep telling yourself that Evans._

_Why does the sarcastic voice in my head sound exactly like Gracie?_

Shaking her head in order to clear her thoughts, Lily looked next to her and noticed a small slip of parchment on her bedside table.

**_Dear Lils,_**

**_Hey, just thought you might want to know how you got from the couch to your bed. It was I, James Potter, a valiant warrior who fought to carry thy fair maiden up to her fiery tower near the Dragon's keep. And your friends are in their own beds as well. See you at dinner._**

**_-Jamsie_**

The red head smiled to herself and headed down to the Great Hall, and although she was acting fine, her head was already in turmoil.

_Why did he do that?_

_Because he loves you._

_He doesn't love me! What's there to love about Lily Evans?_

_Everything damn thing Evans! Stop putting yourself down already!_

_Why should I?_

_Cause if you don't stop, James will eventually give up and you'll never have him._

_I don't want him._

_Denial._

_Go away._

She stopped discussing her personal matters with herself when James stood and waved her over to the table, where her friends were already sitting.

"I'm starving," she groaned, beginning to fill her plate as soon as she sat down, "How long have I been sleeping? Oh, and thanks for the note Jamesie."

"Six hours I believe, and you're welcome." Said James as he smiled down at her.

"So..." she searched for a topic, "What're you going to do for your first prank?"

"It's all confidential. Since we don't know who were up against, we've got to make sure no secrets get out."

"Oh." Said Lily, acting slightly put out which drove James nearly crazy with wanting for her now pursed lips.

"Gracie, how long have you been out?" Asked Lily, tearing her eyes away from James' face.

"About four hours, and it would have been longer if this idiot hadn't come in and woken me up saying it was an emergency." Gracie replied, gesturing to Sirius, who had a bag of ice held to his forehead.

"What was the emergency?"

"He thought his lips were gone and he wanted me to kiss them so he could know if they were still there. I beat him with my potions book. It made a very nice weapon."

Lily choked on her pumpkin juice and said, "Wow, my sympathy Sirius, but be happy you didn't get a concussion. It's happened to guys before."

"I really feel lucky now Lils, thanks." Replied Sirius saucily.

"Hey, I just realized something guys," said Emma, resurfacing from her conversation with Remus, "This is the first time we have ever sat together for an entire meal without fighting. I actually think we are getting somewhere with this friendship."

"We most certainly are." Said James, flashing Lily a brilliant grin.

* * *

**A/N: Well that was the end of chapter four. Please review. I NEED REVIEWS. I CRAVE THEM. Hee, hee. **


	5. Disasters & Dye

The next week at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry was practically normal. The Marauders and Marauderesses were besieged with tons of homework and (as Gracie said) were going to be inhaling it if they didn't get some of it done. The only one out of the boys who seemed to be worried about homework was Remus, but even James and Sirius were bothering to do a bit of light reading just so they wouldn't fall behind on their NEWT classes.

It was Friday morning and the fours girls woke up. One in her Head's dormitory, the others in their normal dormitories.

"Good morning." Said Emma cheerily, pulling open the curtains with a big smile and digging into her suitcase for shampoo and stifling a yawn.

"Go to hell, demons of the wide awake!" Groaned Gracie as she tumbled to the ground, tangled in her sheets.

"Another glorious day being the friend of James Potter!" Said Lily, walking to the shower in her bathroom and humming 'What a wonderful world' rather out of tune.

She stepped under shower head and turned the water on, enjoying the cool feeling of the water on her skin, washing away her thoughts and troubles. Closing her eyes, she put shampoo in her hair and continued singing at the top of her lungs, "And I think to myself! What a wonderful world!"

Gracie and Emma stepped into their showers on the floor below, Gracie drowsily bumping into walls, and Emma reciting her Charms notes over and over.

Lily continued scrubbing her head, but began to notice a tingling sensation that covered her arms and legs. It was not unlike the feeling she got when James touched her but the thing was (to her hidden disappointment) he was not in the stall with her. So she looked down to see if she was getting a rash or something...

And screamed.

At almost the same time, two other screams erupted from below her, coming from the 7th Years girl's lavatories.

Also at that moment, four boys woke up with enormous grins on their faces.

"Another day of flirting with Gracie Harlow and staring at both her back and front side, lovely." Said Sirius, stretching and getting up happily (despite his usual grumpiness).

"Waking up to the screams of wimpy girls can be so fulfilling." Said James, his black hair messier than normal as he bounced around his Head's room.

"Sirius, why must you be so sex-crazed at this hour?" Grumbled Remus.

Meanwhile, the rest of the school began screaming while in the shower. There were those who didn't take showers, but they still screamed when they saw what had befallen their friends.

"Peter? Where did you put my cologne?" Shouted Sirius, through his bathroom door.

"It should be in your bathroom cabinet!" Came the reply.

"Well, good morning Gents, how are you this morning!" Said James, who entered the dorm in his (oddly enough) periwinkle bathrobe.

"Splendid, Comrade Potter." Said Sirius, peaking out from under his bed as he looked for his homework.

"Well," said Remus, pulling the essay out from under the his pillow, "We should probably head down to the Great Hall, seeing as I rather look forward to seeing everyone except us drenched in purple dye."

"Fine." They all agreed as they continued to dress, James joining them.

Fifteen minutes later, the entire school was in the Great Hall, though it looked as if the hall had been flooded with purple kool-aid.

"Purple. I hate purple." Said Lily miserably as she looked all over her vibrant violet body.

"Those... Marauders, " Spat Gracie, glaring at her, plate, "When they walk into the hallway I'm going to walk right over to them and--."

"Just be normal so they don't know it's us," Said Lily darkly, "Besides, we don't know it was them. It could be someone else."

"Oh really?" Said Emma, glaring furiously at the four figures that had just entered the Great Hall, waving like princesses.

Lily was blushing under her purple epidermis, though thankfully, neither of her friends noticed her. She reached up quickly and tried to fix her bangs, though to no avail.

"Gracie!" Shouted Sirius, running towards her seat.

"Sit here and those kids you've been dreaming about will never even get a chance to exist, Black." Gracie said icily, purposely putting her books on the spot he wished to sit at.

"But Gracie, they'll be your kids too, why ruin our happy future?" Said Sirius, putting his arm around her shoulders and batting his eyes at her.

"If that's what my life is gonna end up at, then kill me now." Said Gracie, glaring up at him as she stood, though he towered over her petite figure.

"Awww, Lils," said James sympathetically, "I'm sorry you took a shower, we should have warned you, but we wanted it to be a surprise. Plus, you look good in purple. Except that it doesn't match your hair at all."

At this, Lily punched him in the arm, Emma flung egg at him, and Gracie kicked both him and Sirius.

"Good morning Ladies, I see you are very awake today." Said Remus, sitting down next to Emma.

"Don't you start or you'll be getting a bruised shin as well." Gracie spat, plopping down back in her seat, ignoring Sirius who was clutching his leg.

"Why didn't you just get the Marauderesses instead of the rest of the school?" Lily asked through a mouthful of oatmeal.

"We don't know who they are." Piped up Peter.

"Wow, they must be pretty smart women to evade the eyes of the infamous Marauders." Said Gracie with a wink at her friends that was not spotted by the four boys, thankfully.

"Obviously not that smart to avoid our prank." Said Sirius pompously, settling next to Remus and digging into pancakes.

"Whatever." Came the cold reply from Gracie.

"So how is this gonna help you figure out who they are, James?" Said Lily, hiding a smile at her best friend and Sirius, who were glaring at each other in an endless staring contest.

"That wasn't the point of this prank. No, the mysterious opponent hunt will begin tomorrow, before the tally board reveals the first set of judges marks of the Prankwar."

"Yes, it does seem to be the talk of the school, this prankwar," said Emma gesturing around the Great Hall airily with a purple hand, "How do you plan to catch the Marauderesses?"

"We're gonna put up WANTED posters everywhere and offer a reward for the return of them." James said, puffing his chest out proudly at this so called 'brilliant' plan.

"What's the reward for the booty?" Lily asked non-challantly, half wondering if the reward might be worth it.

"A night in bed with the Marauder of their choice." Said Sirius.

The three girls promptly spit out their Pumpkin juice all over the boys.

"Ewww...Lily! C'mon, why did you have to destroy my new shirt?" James whined.

"Oh get over yourself, you baby. Girls, we umm, need to go to the Library." Said Lily with a meaningful look.

"But why would we need to do that! We just went last night!" Said Gracie as Emma grabbed her arm and dragged her off with Lily's help.

The boys stared off as their female friends left, trying to silence Gracie's feeble cries of 'I want to finish my grapefruit!'

"Padfoot, how are the WANTED posters coming?" Asked Remus casually, going over his homework to look for spelling errors.

"Fine, so far I've got pink and purple colored posters with naked girls on them with information, but I'm working on some chartreuse colored ones," said Sirius.

James winced at his friend," I sometimes wonder if your mother dropped you on your head when you were a baby, Pads."

With a sigh, Remus stood and said, "Well, we should probably get them up soon so we can find the girls."

"I hate girls." Said Sirius, standing up.

"You lie, Sirius. You adore girls; they are like, your hobby." Said James, stretching and taking an apple with him.

"Yeah, they've got boobs and nice smiles, but they are just a waste of space."

"Well, before you become homosexual my friend, consider the fact that most girls think the same about you."

"When you say most, do you mean that in a general sense or are you talking about our dear lovely red head and friends?" Said Sirius, looking over at James suspiciously.

"I mean mostly girls named Gracie Harlow."

"Oh." Sirius pouted.

"But don't count her;" said James encouragingly, "She hardly could be considered part of the female population."

Sirius' face brightened and he bounced off down the corridor.

"Nice Save." Laughed Remus, shaking his head in the direction that his friend had walked off in.

* * *

"Do you think that any ditz is actually gonna apply for that stupid wanted add?" Asked Gracie, leafing through a nook that read "The Magical World of Pranks".

"Maybe a blonde would, seeing as Angelina White is the leader of all dumb blondes." Said Emma, as the just mentioned ice-queen flounced by with her posse of admirers.

"Disgusting." Gracie spat, glaring at the victims of society.

"Never mind that, we have other problems." Said Lily, looking worriedly at her friends.

"Like what, Lils?"

"The fact that no girl is immune to the Marauder charm except us."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Emma asked, pulling her hair up into an even higher bun.

"Think about it, James said he knows the real Marauderesses won't show up. So whoever doesn't show up-."

"Will be the Marauderesses," finished Gracie, "Well that's easy, we'll report ourselves."

"But then we have to kiss the Marauders." Emma grumbled.

"And personally, I'd rather be found out than have to kiss a Marauder." Said Lily, cringing at the thought.

"So, what do we do?" Gracie said, bending down over a chair and giggling at her awkward position.

"Well, I had an idea but it's rather stupid." Said Emma, casting her eyes down and narrowing them at her oddly colored skin.

"What? You know you'll tell us or we'll kill you!" Gracie cried.

"No screaming in the library!" Screeched Madame Pince, her hollow eyes squinting and her yellow teeth barring down as she swooped to and from the girls.

"Stupid bat. You know, that's the only person that I would ever say needs to settle down and get married." Growled Gracie.

"So Em, what was your idea?" Lily pressed, smiling at herself and her friend's' purple hues.

"Well, we could help them find those little mischief makers. We could...how you say...go under cover. Just think, we'd be working to help them, and they would never even get a hint that it was us all along. Plus, the closer we get, they might let us into their secrets. We could learn to infiltrate their pranks before they are carried out successfully. We could win!"

"That's perfect, but we have to be careful. We can't try to just jump in and find their plans. We have to win their trust, feed them information that sounds false. If we are not cautious of what move to make, the results could be disastrous."

"Disaster is my middle name." Gracie crowed, earning another angry outburst from Madame Pince.

Lily sat for a moment, day dreaming about getting to spend even **more **time with her favorite guy in the world. She loved being with him, as much as she hated admitted it. There were moments when her guard was up and she refused to say or even think anything romantic on the subject of James Potter, but there were other times where every single thought in her red-head was involving the bloody boy! She half the time questioned her sanity, but could always blame it on something, like Gracie's preachings on how she and James were meant to be together or allergies.

As she fingered the corner of an old book, several letters popped up on her lap reading To the Marauderesses.

"FEEDBACK!!" Gracie bellowed as loud as she could.

"That's it! I've had it! Out you little vagabonds! OOUUTTT!!!!" Screamed the beside herself librarian, beating the Marauderesses over the head with a duster as they scampered out, gripping the letters and rented books.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Lily, Gracie and Emma sat in the Head's Dorm, separating open the five letters. Their purple skins clashed horribly with the gold and scarlet of the Gryffindor colors.

"I wanna read this one first!" Emma squealed, jumping up and down on the couch in excitement.

"Then do it before we die form anticipation!" Lily squealed back.

"Okay," Emma said, straightening the letter and clearing throat, "Dear Marauderesses, you guys rock! I cannot believe the Marauders think they can beat you! Nice prank last week! My friends and I are totally voting for you! Sincerely, Arleen Whipple (Hufflepuff House)."

"Me next!" Cried Gracie, viciously ripping up the next one, "Dear Midnight Freckles and Frown, I love your nicknames. I love your prank. I love you. Saturday night at the Astronomy Tower? Like, a date? I'm yours forever. With love, Vincent Morgana."

"Isn't he a Slytherin?" Asked Emma.

"Oh, I think I'm gonna be sick." Said Lily pretending to hurl over the side of the couch.

"Lily, you read one." Gracie prodded, throwing an envelope at Lily, whacking her friend square in the head.

"Dear Miss Evans, Miss Harlow and Miss Vance," Lily said confidently, though stopping and staring at the parchment in horror.

"What?" Asked Emma in a whisper.

"Someone knows who we are. They said our names. Our **real **names!" Lily said faintly as her hands began to shake.

"Well read the rest of the letter! Find out if they mean us harm!" Gracie said tensely, her nails digging into her palms as she clenched her fists in anguish.

"Dear Miss Evans, Miss Harlow and Miss Vance," began Lily again in a frightened tone, "I know who you are, but fear not, I will not tell a single soul in and out of the castle. I warn you though, the Marauders are hard to compete with and they do prank rather well. I know this for they have been my students for seven years now, as have you. But I don't doubt your inexplicable talent and wit. I wish you the best of luck with the prankwar. Sincerely, Albus Dumbledore (Headmaster)."

Lily laid the letter down as her friends stared down thoughtfully.

"How the bloody hell did he figure us out?!" Gracie asked exasperatedly, throwing her callused hands in the air.

"The same way the Sorting Hat picks what house students are in. He just...knows."

"He must've seen a sign, some small gesture from us that let him know it was us. From now on, we have to be extra careful who we are around and what we do when around them." Said Lily, her dark brows aligning in deep concentration.

"I'll read the next." Emma offered, taking another letter and sliding it open with a flick of her wand.

"Dear Marauderesses, I think you guys don't stand a chance against the Marauders. Not only are they the **ultimate**prankers, but they are also really hot. You are probably a bunch or nerdy nobodies who are just pining after amazing guys who you will never be worthy of. Peace and Love! Sincerely, Angelina White."

"Yep, its official. She is definitely number one on the Who's Being Pranked Next List." Gracie said, nodding decidedly.

"What a bitch." Emma drawled, as if it was old news.

"Alright," said Lily, already sliding open the envelope to the next letter, "Dear Moonlight, Freckles and Frown, Just thought we'd inquire if you enjoyed this morning's prank. We hope you did and we hope you are reading this with the appearance of three purple grapes. Can't wait till the judgment day. Sincerely, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. P.S.- you might want to check the bulletin board for an important advertisement on Monday."

"I wonder what they would say if they new it was us they were bashing?" Gracie said, handing the letters to Lily.

"I'll write some nice replies tonight to everyone, especially the Marauders, and send them tomorrow." Said Lily, checking her watch.

"Oh, crap." Lily said, grabbing her bag and standing up.

"What?" Her friends asked.

"Class started a half an hour ago!" Lily shouted, nearly pulling her red hair out in stress.

"CRAP!" Shouted Emma, who was already half-way to the portrait hole.

"Crap is right," said Gracie, "we forgot to finish our essay questions last night."

Needless to say, the room was filled with multiple curses and swears.

* * *

**Lily, I'm not usually a punctual person, but, where the hell were you?**

**_The library. And it's none of your concern what I was doing there, so don't ask James._**

**Did you find a way to get the dye off?**

**_If I had, don't you think it would be off by now?_**

**Well maybe you feel entitled to honor the Marauder's prank seeing as you happen to be friends with one of them.**

**_So you know how to get it off?_**

**What, the dye?**

**_Yes!_**

**Ummmmmm...**

**_JAMES!!!!!!!!!!!_**

**Okay! Use the fuchsia colored soap in the prefect's bathroom while taking your next bath, but let it soak in for a moment.**

**_Well that's great, what about the non-prefects? How will they get rid of the purple?_**

**It goes away after twenty four hours Lils. Calm down. Oh, and we have a Head's meeting tonight.**

**_Library at 6:00?_**

**It's a date!**

**_Ha Ha._**

**I'm glad you think I'm funny Lily. **

**_Whatever, hey I need a distraction; can you and Sirius make Binns busy for a moment while I slip out to take a bath?_**

**What will you give me in return?**

**_My finished potions notes for you to copy for tomorrow's test, and don't tell me you've been taking notes yourself James._**

**Okay, Sirius and I have got a plan. WAIT FOR THE SIGNAL.**

What's the signal?" Lily mouthed silently to James, but she didn't even have to ask, cause the next moment, an odd thing happened.

Sirius spontaneously combusted.

As in, randomly caught on fire.

"Oh it burns!" He screamed, though she didn't miss the wink he gave her when he turned in her direction.

_Fake fire, I should have known. _She thought, slipping unnoticed out of the classroom, laughing as James tried to beat the fire off of Sirius using a giant textbook.

Being the best friend of a Marauder definitely had its quirks.

* * *

**A/N: Please review. I'd really like more than ten reviews, if that is possible. You are the syrup on my waffles, all you guys!**


	6. Balls & Befuddlement

**Author's Note: This is chapter six. I included so little of Jamesie and Lilykins in the last chapter that I thought that I'd drown this chappie in lots of fluff. Let me know if it's not enough. So read and review. **

* * *

"Mr. Potter, now that you and Miss Evans have bothered to grace us with your presence, would you please kindly sit down and be quiet?" Asked McGonnagal sharply, nostrils flared as she took her seat besides Dumbledore.

"Sorry Professor." James replied cheekily, "We got distracted."

"By what, dare I ask?"

"Uhhhhh..."

"A violation of rule 265 in the Head's Handbook, Professor," piped up Lily, who had already seated herself and was glancing slyly at a slack-jawed James, "it's so hard to keep those 5th years off each other and I apologize for being late, but James insisted that we give them detention. He's such a stickler about the rules."

"Oh. Well, in that case, you are free from a lecture, but don't do it again Mr. Potter." McGonnagal shot, looking at him with mock contempt.

"Yes, Professor." James replied dumbly before sitting across from Lily at the table in Dumbledore's office.

Lily felt a hand squeeze hers under the oak table and squeezed back. To her and James, it was simply an exchange of a 'thanks for saving my ass' and 'your welcome and you owe me', yet they both felt the subtle jolt when their hands touched.

_Is it normal to be this happy when with a guy friend?_

_Probably not, but seeing as you are bloody in love with him, Evans, it's alright._

_Ummm...no. I resent that! Okay, so maybe I'm staring at his backside and front side a little more than usual. And maybe I'm noticing how utterly gorgeous his eyes are, but so what? I bet both Gracie and Em think that James is attractive, but it doesn't mean they are in love with him._

_If you're not in love with him Evans, then tell me, who do you dream about every night?_

_Uh...Paul McCartney?_

_No you imbecile. James Potter._

_Go away. I don't like my best guy friend. Go to hell evil voice._

_Suit yourself, but you know it's true._

Lily was able to get away from her thoughts just as Professor Dumbledore began to speak, his blue grey eyes twinkling over his half-moon spectacles.

"As you know, every year a dance has been held at Hogwarts open to 5th years and above. Originally, it has been mine and the House Head's responsibility to plan the dance, but I believe that with such a large graduating class this year that we should have our very own Head Boy and Girl plan the ball. Here is a list of things you need to plan and sort out. You have a spending fee of five hundred galleons for this dance, including hiring a band, decorations, and prizes for the dancing contests. I trust you will not spend this money on anything else but the outcome of this dance."

"Of course Professor." James said, smiling at Lily as she continued to pull her befuddled thoughts together.

_You like him._

_Do not!_

_Do too!_

_Okay, I'm not going to argue with myself. It's pointless._

_Either you do or you don't Evans, make up your freaking' mind._

Lily tore her eyes away from James' face, taking the list of things to do from Dumbledore and shoving it in her bag.

"We will meet in two weeks time. The ball will be in four weeks. That is all." Said McGonagall, curtly nodding them out the door.

They scampered out after the goodbyes, Lily's eyes firmly concentrated on the floor as opposed to James' arse.

* * *

The next day, almost the entire school stood around the eastern wall of the fourth floor corridor. Even some of the teachers had bothered to see what was going on.

It really was quite a chaotic scene. Paintings were leaning out of their frames to get a better look, ghosts were gliding through students to get to the front, and even Professor Sprout brought her pet Tentacula to enjoy the event.

"PLACE YOUR BETS HERE! BET ON THE MARAUDERS! BET ON THE MARAUDERESSES! PLACE BETS HERE!" Shouted a small third year behind a booth, eagerly taking the bets.

"Wow, I never thought we would make it this far, my friends." Said Sirius, wiping a mock tear from his eye.

"We don't even know what the score is, though we know we will win." James said, puffing out his chest.

"You can't be too sure, dear Jamesie." Said Gracie, walking over to the group sporting a tank-top and jeans.

"The girls might win." Said Emma, flipping her black ponytail over her shoulder.

"Gracie, I didn't recognize you without your purple coloring my dear!" Shouted Sirius over the crowd, flouncing towards her.

"Where's Lily?" Said James, looking over the many heads for a certain red one.

"Doing homework." Emma replied quickly and easily, though no one noticed the quickening of her heart at the thought of telling a flat out lie.

"Why?"

"Because she forgot to finish that Charm's Theory essay." Emma lied again, scanning the crowd for the red head as well, knowing she had a job to do other than homework.

"But wouldn't she wanna come and support the Marauders?" James asked, looking rather put out.

"Missing her much?" Inquired Gracie, once she had extracted herself from Sirius' perverted advances.

"No." Blurted James a little too quickly to not notice.

"You love her. You know it, but you can't admit it to yourself." Said the brunette, giving him the most downright open stare of a lifetime.

James muttered something nasty, to which she replied, "That's what you want me to think, James. You'll thank me someday for giving you this talk." And then she sauntered away, talking quietly with Emma.

"Wait! Gracie, don't you want to give me a victory snog once we get done with the judging for today?" Sirius called.

She turned and gave him the middle finger, to which he blew her a kiss.

"Give it up, Grace. He's never going to stop trying to win you over. It's just like Lily and James." Said Emma, nudging her best friend in the stomach.

"No its not. He's Sirius and I'm Gracie, two negatives do not attract. And speaking of Lily, where the hell is that girl?"

"I'm over here you ditz!" Lily joked form behind a tapestry.

"Do I need to ask?" Said Gracie, gesturing at the hiding place.

"I'm just going over the incantations for the judging." Lily said, brushing an auburn wisp behind her ear, "All the results are in the score box up there, but I have to activate it to calculate everything. This spell will update every time someone places a vote, but will expel more than one vote from the same person. It's a fool-proof system, but I'm almost afraid to see the results."

"Oh, just do it, you ninny." Emma laughed.

"Ok, One." Began Lily.

"Two."

"Three."

"Diribito!" She whispered, pointing her wand at the box on the wall.

* * *

"You are sooo amazing." Crooned the blonde as she combed her fingers eagerly through Sirius' hair.

"I try, I really do." Said Sirius, "Don't I try Jamesie?"

Before his friend could answer, a commotion began at the front of the crowd (our Marauder friends were in the middle of it).

"The board! It's changing!" Shouted a fifth year.

"Were all going to die!" Screamed a second year hysterically, as she fainted and fell to the floor in excitement.

Though the Marauders did disagree with the beside herself second year, the fact the board was indeed changing was accurate.

What was an empty, blank board about ten feet up on the wall, became doubled in size and divided into two colors. Silver and Gold. The Gold side bore the word "Marauders" on the top and the Silver bore the word "Marauderesses" on the top. There was also a clock below the board, counting down to the final day of the Prankwar by the second.

The corridor went silent, every student in it nearly dying from the wait and anticipation. Then after almost a minute, numbers began to fade into each column.

**Marauders: 23 **

**Marauderesses: 35**

"NOOOOOO!" Screamed Sirius, falling on his knees in defeat.

"Impossible." Muttered Remus, feeling deflated that their fool proof scheme had failed.

"That can't be! It has to be a fluke!" Cried James, yanking at his hair in agony.

"Who's up for food?" Asked Peter.

"How could I ever eat again after this?" Sirius asked himself, gripping James' shirt as James attempted to lift him off the floor as the crowd began to disperse.

A small, delicate hand wrapped around James's shoulder. He looked up to find Lily smiling down.

_Lily_, the only thing that made losing this week worth while.

"Hey." She said, bending down to get a better look at Sirius, who had fallen on the floor again, groaning, "I'm going to die. Die a lonely and horrid death. Someone just kill me now!"

"That can be arranged." Said Gracie, raising a foot over his unmentionables.

Sirius sat up and ran off before Gracie had a chance to lower her foot.

"Hey." James said back, oblivious to everyone else.

"Sorry I couldn't come." Lilly smiled, "I had to finish an essay and it took me four bloody hours to edit the damn thing."

"It's alright." Said James, lost in her eyes.

"Well, we'll just be going." Emma said, taking Remus, Peter and Gracie off to catch Sirius.

Before Lily could do anything to stop it, her and James were alone in the corridor. On the floor. Next to each other.

"So, hungry? It's about time we had some lunch." James said.

"Yeah." Said Lily somewhat breathlessly.

_Her eyes are the most beautiful shade of green. _He thought.

_His eyes look like the honey I put in my tea every morning. _She thought.

_Absolutely amazing. _They both agreed.

"Umm...I thought of a, um, theme for the dance." Lily said, trying to bring her eyes away from his.

"Really?" He asked, not really caring as long as he didn't have to look away from her.

"Yeah, we can discuss it over the meeting tonight." She said, standing up and welcoming a James free atmosphere for a few seconds.

But he soon stood up as well, and her thoughts were once again water logged with the boy.

She made a mental note to search for diseases with these kinds of symptoms.

* * *

The three boys sat in the Common room. No one was feeling hungry after the loss against the Marauderesses.

"I can't move. The feeling of extreme subjugation is bringing me to an end." Remus said melodramatically.

"I know the feeling." Sirius said, though he had no idea what subjugation meant.

"I'm not even hungry anymore." Peter said.

"Wormtail, my friend, you may never be hungry again because the loss of this round has nearly killed us all." Sirius said sadly, combing his hair for comfort.

At that moment, the door banged open, making the three boys jump, as Gracie and Emma stalked in.

"We need to talk." Said Gracie, sitting in front of Remus.

"About what, Doll-face?" Sirius said, sitting up with new vigor, "Our future? Our present? The fact that you want to snog my face off? My--"

He was silenced as Gracie flicked her wand at him, temporarily taking his voice.

"About what?" Asked Remus, leaning forward in his reading chair.

"We were just in the Great Hall grabbing a snack. Guess who we saw?" Said Emma, her violet eyes boring into Remus' brown ones.

"Students?" Piped up Peter, earning a 'why are you so stupid?' glare from Gracie.

"Lily and James." Emma finished, sitting next to her brown haired friend.

"And? They are friends." Said Remus indignantly, though bursting out laughing when he saw Sirius silently cussing Gracie out.

"What about James' undying love?" The purple eyed girl shot back.

"Supposedly replaced with strictly platonic feelings." Remus said doubtfully.

"So he's still head over heels for her?" Gracie asked eagerly.

"More or less so. Why? What were they doing in the hall?"

"Nothing major or life changing, but the signs were everywhere. Whenever they touched, she looked down and blushed like a cherry and I don't think James' eyes ever left her face."

Silence from all three boys.

"I think Sirius has something to say." Peter whimpered, looking fearfully at Grace.

"He can keep it to himself." She growled.

But Remus had already taken off the spell and Sirius was already asking, "Why is this so important?"

"Because..." Emma began, looking hesitantly at Gracie for an approval of continuing, "We have reason to believe that Lily likes James back."

More silence.

"Why would you say this?"

"Because Lily is usually a very controlled person, but lately, since getting to know James more, she's been a wreck. Talking to herself about nothing at all, actually bothering to fix her hair in the morning and, I caught her looking at a make-up add in Hogsmeade." Gracie said, as if this was a horror story instead of a romance.

"Okay." Remus said, "But why tell us this?"

"We want to...well, we have a plan." Emma fidgeted.

"A plan to?..."

Gracie ran her cautious eyes over the Marauders, pondering whether she should trust them or not.

"Promise not to tell?" She whispered, leaning forward with a quirk of the eyebrow.

"Pinky swear!" Said Sirius, grabbing Gracie's hand and intertwining their pinkies together and not letting go.

"Alright." She said, yanking her hand from Sirius'.

"We want to get Lily and James together." Emma said resignedly, ignoring the bewildered faces she received.

"And we seem outta line, I know," Gracie supplied, "But they have chemistry and I know they are both too thick to know what's good for them. So we'll just have to make them see it."

"And you plan to do this how?" Asked Sirius.

"Well, that's where you come in. We need to find a way to get them alone in a room together, or stuck by the hand or something."

"Hold your horses, Miss Thang." Sirius said, "If you even think we are gonna consider sticking our Mate with that crazed bitch, then you are off your rocker."

"We'll do what we can, but if we get caught, we blame you." Concluded Remus, ignoring Sirius' angered look.

"Fine. Meet back here tonight at nine o'clock."

"Why?"

"Because there is a Head's Meeting tonight and Lily and James will be up in their dorm for it."

And with that said, the two girls left. Emma cast Remus a sweet smile, at which his cheeks flushed.

"I cannot believe we are about to hook our friend up with the most harmful girl on campus." Sirius said, shaking his head in disbelief.

* * *

"Are you kidding me?" Lily asked, nose crinkling up as she giggled at James.

"I'm not kidding! Next thing I know, we are all lying on the ceiling and Sirius was all 'it was an accident'." James confirmed, his pace quickening at the sight of Lily's mirth filled face.

"Wow. I never knew Sirius to be that stupid!" She said, looking down at her finished essay.

"I know, it's sad. On further notice however, may the meeting commence, Head Girl Lily?"

"Why, of course Head Boy James."

"Alright. First things first, what will the theme for the ball be?" Said James, taking out a notepad and quill while moving his glasses down the bridge of his nose so as to look more intelligent.

"I was thinking that we should do a compatibility masquerade." Lily said.

"Huh?" Said James, suddenly losing all persona of looking well educated.

"Well, first off, the ball itself is a masquerade, but before the ball, all people going have to take a quick quiz. We match them up boy to girl and you'll meet your most compatible match up at the ball, where you will share at least one dance with them. We can tell people who their partners are through a delivery system. Of course, it would take longer than a normal ball would to set up, but I'm sure Professor Dumbledore would be fine with that and--"

"Lily," said James, interrupting her never-ending babbling, "I'm all for this, but why don't we take this into slower detail so I can actually take notes. And it sounds like a great idea, Lils."

She smiled at him and yawned, stretching her arms up so high that her shirt pulled up just enough to reveal an inch of her pale midriff, something that James had to pinch himself to keep from staring at.

"Tired dear?" He asked, engaging in playful banter.

"Very much so. Now, ask a question about the the theme of the ball and I'll answer." She said, tipping her head to the side as she watched his movements.

As she explained the idea to him, she was completely infatuated with his actions. The slight smile that crossed his face whenever she spoke, the way he always wrote down her words letter by letter, to avoid making mistakes, and the way his brow creased when he was writing a long word out.

There he was, sitting in his jeans and long sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He always did that, rolled up his sleeves an inch past the elbow. It gave him such a comfortable look that Lily couldn't help but feel relaxed when in his presence. His hair was as messy as ever and it looked like he hadn't shaved in a week, for a dark shadow of stubble covered his jaw-line.

He tapped the pen on the edge of her foot, knocking her out of her daze.

"Lily? Not to break up the lovely meeting, but I promised the boys I'd sleep in the dorm, we've gotta plan for next week's pranks."

"Can I help?" She asked, sleepily packing her bags and shoving them under her personal desk.

"Maybe, but I'll have to talk to the guys about it." He said, grinning at her.

"James?"

"Yes Lily?"

"Can you give me a piggy back ride into the normal common room? Pretty please?"

_As if I would give up a chance to have you touch me and wrap your arms around my neck._ James thought, as he hoisted Lily on his shoulders and carried her into the common room through the adjoining passageway.

When he entered the room, he nearly forgot about Lily, dropping her. Thankfully, she landed gracefully and didn't get hurt.

Both James' friends and Lily's friends were sitting by the fire talking. Talking as if they were getting along just harmoniously.

"What are you guys doing?" Lily asked, walking over to them.

"Gracie was just explaining to Wormy over here how to kiss properly, and he practiced on Remus." Said Emma, cracking up when James' looked at his friends rather disgusted.

"No, really." Said Lily, not noticing Gracie slip a piece of parchment into her text book.

"Nothing, I'm serious." Emma said, laughing at the weird look Peter was giving her.

"No, I'm Sirius." Padfoot whined, "Good Grace!"

"No, I'm Grace, and I'm not that good." Replied Gracie, laughing at her own witty pun.

"Alright then, let's go girls. It's manicure night." Lily said, racing her friends up the staircase to their dorm.

"Sometimes, I get the feeling that you guys plan things behind my back." James said, walking up to his dorm to rest his "aching back".

"That was a close one." Sirius said, winking at his friends.

"Operation Lily-James starts tomorrow." Said Remus, shaking his head as he sauntered up the stairs behind James.

* * *

**A/N: Well, phew, that was a hard chapter and I really had to fit a lot into that, so I hope it payed off after the last crappy chapter. Okay, I need at least ten more reviews if you want another chapter. 10 reviews at the least please!**


	7. Makeovers & Moose

**Author's Note: Okay, this chapter is full of complete randomness, I swear. You might not want to drink anything while reading this. **

* * *

Angelina White was popular. She was beautiful and loved by her fans and friends. She someday planned to model magical lingerie. Yes, she was a very headstrong girl.

But lately, she had been a little miffed. Her cloud of absolute control had been knocked into by this.. Prankwar. Sure, she liked the Marauders, they were cute, charming, not to mention damn good kissers, but those Marauderesses. Ugh, she would have liked to teach them a lesson.

So she did, not a week or so back. She wrote a sweet letter politely telling them to stop their humorless, cruel pranking. She needed absolute control. And she would get it no matter what.

Now, the school had quieted down and her silly friends had stopped chattering about the Prankwar. It had simply ended, and boy was Angelina glad for that. Now she could begin her conquest for James Potter as well as the social destruction of the Red head slag Lily Evans.

Yes, life was good for Angelina.

But she found it odd that she woke up one morning to find her legs hairy.

Very hairy.

"Like, what the hell, I just got them waxed last weekend!" She said, stepping out of bed and walking towards her full body mirror.

She had a beard.

And a unibrow.

Speechless, Angelina lifted her night shirt up.

A manly, hairy chest.

"Where the hell are my boobs?" She screamed, waking up the dorm.

"Try the front of your body! And if they're not there, then try the implant room!" Grace Harlow screamed from her bed.

"No you bitch, they are not on me, I...I'm a guy!" Angelina screamed, gripping her used to be platinum locks (which were now a dirty blonde afro).

Gracie (who was lying on her bed) looked over at the next bed and found Emma with her face buried in her pillow, her entire body shaking.

"Em." Gracie whispered as Angelina continued to freak out over her new transformation.

"What?" Emma managed to rasp out, tears streaming down her cheeks as she laughed uncontrollably.

"Should we tell her?"

"No, just give her a hint."

Gracie stood up, stretching and smiling to herself as the remaining girls in their dorm crowded around Angelina.

"Why don't you just shave, Angie?" Asked Millie Sharpton

"I can't!" Wailed Angelina, taking her face mask off.

"Why not?" Asked Gracie with mock concern.

"Because, I only get waxed. Shaving makes stubble!" The Blondie said, "I'm a guy forever!"

"That's not for sure." Gracie said, holding back a laugh.

"What do you mean? I'm still a girl?" Asked Angelina hopefully, raising her head from her hands.

"Well, there's only one way to find out." Said Gracie, gesturing towards the front of Angelina's pajama bottoms.

The girl ran into the bathroom and the room was silent.

Three minutes later, Angelina came out bawling her eyes out, clutching a piece of paper in her hand.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Asked her posse girls with eyes wide.

"I-- the Marauderesses. Note. I" She spluttered hysterically, holding the piece of paper forward for her friend to take and read.

"Like, dear Angie," one of the other bottle-blondes said, reading off the parchment as Angelina buried her face in her pillow.

"We would like to tell you that you have just been pranked by the Marauderesses. We hope you will not be too upset at us, but looking back at the wonderful letter you wrote us, we couldn't really give a damn what you think of us. If you are able to tell for yourself, we would like to tell you that you have successfully been turned into a hermaphrodite by us. There is no magical cure, remedy or antidote. The only thing that will stop you from being this is if you announce to the whole school that the Marauderesses are the coolest and are sure to win the prankwar. You will then instantly transform back into a girl, but we decided to add a little something extra once you have gone back to your normal self. To know what it is, you'll just have to wait and see. And don't even try to skip out on class, because then you'll break your perfect attendance record and your hopes of beating dear little Lily Evans will be gone. Yes dear, we have read your diary.

Sincerely, Midnight, Freckles and Frown.

Miss Midnight would like to say that you look considerably better like this than before.

Miss Freckles agrees and would like to add that plastic surgery will not get rid of aging lines, so don't bother.

Miss Frown would like to laugh at you and say that you smell like a French whorehouse and it's no wonder James Potter has turned you down twice."

The friend put the parchment down and looked fearfully at Angelina, who had stood and began dressing in a mini-skirt and tank-top.

"Um, Angie?" Asked Emma, catching her breath, "How are you going to pull that hot outfit off with all that?" She gestured to the manly look.

"I'm Angelina White, you purple eyed freak," Angelina spat, pulling on tights and high heels, "Those Marauderesses will pay. I will find them and make them pay big time."

As she said that, her armpits sprouted two tufts or dark hair, making her wail and storm out.

Once the entire popular crowd had left, Gracie and Emma looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"Did you get it?" Gracie asked, clutching her stomach as she tried to stable herself.

"Yep." Answered Emma, pulling out a camera hidden under her shirt.

"Brilliant. This is so going in the Yearbook." Gracie said, walking out the dorm after dressing.

"We are the bomb. If we don't win this prank war, I think we might just die." Said Emma, pulling her hair up.

* * *

Lily sat at the breakfast table in a rather good mood. Although she had spent the entire breakfast listening to Angelina bitch on and on about getting revenge to her fan club, Lily was now sitting with Gracie, Emma, (who were giving a rather detailed version of what had happened to Angelina, even though she already knew) and the Marauders.

Oddly enough, at the moment, she wasn't caring that she had homework that wasn't finished, or the fact that they had to be more cautious than ever about pranking (Angelina had almost woken up twice as they cast the charms on her), or the fact that she nearly jumped every time James' foot brushed up against hers. She was just having fun.

"So, do you have any idea who did it?" Said Sirius, leaning forward like a five-year old, eyes wide and mouth open.

"Well," said Gracie, who was actually enjoying the attention from Sirius, "We could have sworn that we saw a figure standing over her in the middle of the night, but it was hard to tell, because we were half asleep."

"Wow." Said Sirius, scooting closer to Gracie unnoticed.

"Wow's right." James said, raising his eyebrows at the both of them.

Gracie, who had her eyes closed and was humming contentedly, saw the look James gave her and promptly shoved Sirius off the bench.

"Well, now that I'm sure that we are not in a paranormal universe in which Grace Harlow and Padfoot get along, I would like to ask something." Remus said, glancing at Emma, who seemed the least occupied.

"And what would that be?" She asked, dipping a scone in her tea.

"I was awake all last night and in the common room reading. If someone had gone in the room, why didn't I see them?"

Emma dropped her teacup which shattered on the floor. But he hadn't been in the common room! She had gone down to grab her wand which she had left near her reading corner and didn't see anyone.

"You weren't there. That was a trick question." Emma answered suavely, mending the teacup and refilling it.

Remus blinked. _How did she know that?_ He thought, smiling at her as she blinked innocently at him.

"Now, question for you." She shot back, looking satisfied with the challenge she gave.

"Shoot."

"What will the dashing Marauders be up to next with this blasted prank war?" Emma asked, tipping her head slightly so her black hair ran across her vibrant eyes.

"Oh, you'll find out sooner or later." Remus said airily, his head tipping as well to measure up with hers.

"Alright, just curious. It's not everyday you meet someone of the opposite sex with as much intellect as yourself."

A flash of purple; she blinked.

"Was that a compliment or an insult?" Remus asked, unaware that the entire group was watching him and Emma.

"It depends on how you look at it." Said Emma softly, leaning towards him, eyes dancing with mischievous glee.

_Damn, how did she learn to do that with her eyes_? Remus thought, giving her a crooked grin.

"Earth to Emma! Get out of the clouds! We have to get to class!" Gracie snapped, picking up her books and walking off.

"So I'll see you in Defense Class!" Remus called as Emma skipped to catch up with her friends.

"I wouldn't miss it!" She called, giving a small smile as she passed a rather hairy Angelina, who was explaining to her current boyfriend that this was simply a new breast implant medication with few side-affects.

"We won't ever forget that look you gave her Moony." Sirius said, who was gripping his shin and wincing (three guesses who kicked it.)

"Why don't you forget it, because it was nothing." Remus said grumpily, slinging his bag on his shoulder.

"Next time you say we're hormonal, we'll remind you of this day, when you actually flirted with a girl." Said James, as he patted Remus sympathetically on the shoulder.

"And I'll tell you to eat dung." Came the reply, as he and his friends burst into laughter at the sight of Angelina again.

* * *

By mid-day, the entire school was buzzing with the news of Angelina the Magical Hermaphrodite. The entire day she flounced around the school with an expression of one with (as Gracie and Sirius put) great constipation.

Her clique teetered around her, nervous and flinching every time someone came up and laughed in her face. Not only did she refuse to admit the Marauderesses were cool, but she refused to hear about what had happened, harassing and jinxing every first year who asked her about her "new look" .

Come around lunch-time, the three girls were in a rather pleasant mood as they dug into their plates. Emma had received top marks on her latest test, Gracie had successfully punched the lights out of several Slytherins who called her a mutant and Lily spent an entire free period passing notes with James in the library.

She had saved them, too.

**Can I interest you in a note?**

**_No, I'm working James._**

**On what?**

**_Plans for the dance, I'm writing a letter to the local magical radio asking for a DJ._**

**Can I help?**

**_James, don't you have a prank war to work on?_**

**I'm busy talking to you. Plus, we've got a prank coming this afternoon.**

**_What is it?_**

**Guess.**

**_I don't have time for games, James._**

**Hey, that rhymes!**

Despite the fact that the letter was insufferably annoying, she found it rather cute and innocent.

She smiled inwardly and looked around, feeling as though something (or someone) was missing.

Then she knew what was missing, she knew it from the fact that her heart wasn't racing and her breath wasn't hitching.

"Where's James?"

"Why don't you go look for him, lover girl?" Gracie drawled, flicking a cracker at Lily's forehead.

"Don't call him that. I just miss him; he's my best friend you know!" Lily said hurriedly, flicking the cracker back.

"And what are we? Clique groupies?" Emma asked from behind her copy of The Feminine Mystique.

"No, I mean he's my best boyfriend!" Lily said, looking frantically around the hall for her four-eyed friend.

"Boyfriend?" Gracie said bemusedly, exchanging a 'Is she anymore obvious?' look with Emma.

"NO!" Lily yelled, frazzled by the bombardment of questions, "I mean, mate friend. A boy who is my friend."

"Nice save, but don't worry, we won't tell." Emma said, raising her eyebrow oh-so-knowing.

"Oi vei!" Said Lily, throwing her hands up in the air in defeat, "I'll just go find him myself!"

But she didn't have to go far.

A low rumbling started outside the Great Hall. The chandelier in the doorway began shaking and students got into that common sense of hysteria.

Before the doors were opened to see what the hell was going on, the Marauders pushed them open and leaped onto the tables.

"STAMPEDE!" Sirius screamed, cupping his hands around his mouth and purposefully foaming at the mouth.

"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" James called, winking at the girls as he passed.

With a wave of her wand, Professor McGonagall opened the doors with a bang.

A herd of Moose stood outside. Literally blocking up the entire entrance hallway.

"How do you reckon were going to get to class, Professor Dumbledore?" Shouted Remus over the cries of laughter.

Dumbledore merely chuckled to himself and beamed back.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE MARAUDERS GIVE YOU THEIR PRANK OF THE WEEK, IN CONTRAST TO THE MARAUDERESSES' AMAZING ANGELINA THE HERMAPHRODITE!" Peter screamed, throwing his arms around in a swirly motion.

Even Gracie had bothered to give a small smile in the roar of applause the four boys received.

* * *

The Marauders all had a detention that Saturday. The poor boys were to clean out Moaning Myrtle's bathroom without magic. According to Conjugal, they would have been joined by the Marauderesses if they could find the misfits.

The moose had been impossible to remove by means of a wand. In the end, the teachers just ended up letting them lumber around the school grounds, meaning classes were cancelled for the rest of the day. Hagrid was going to Diagon Alley to get some humane Moose Traps. The student body of Hogwarts rather liked the many moose around. The Marauders even adopted their own moose.

"What should we name him?" James said, fondly petting the moose as it chewed on a common room pillow.

"I think Sirius sounds like a pretty sexy name." Said Sirius.

"How about, Earnest?" Asked Peter timidly.

"Or James?"

"I like Sirius."

"Hubert?"

"Humperdink?"

The boys continued to bicker until Lily walked in, looking tired and worn out.

"Lils, what should we name the moose?" James said, walking over and sitting next to her on the couch.

She took one quick look at the moose and said, "Harry."

"I like it." James said, giving Lily a pat on the back.

"But I wanted to name it Sirius!"

"Why Harry?" Asked Remus, still petting the moose.

"Because if you think about it, it's been a rather hairy day. First the Marauderesses turn Angelina into a yeti, next we've got a herd of moose. I just think it fits. Plus, what if it's a girl?"

"It's not." All the boys replied quickly.

"How do you know?" She asked skeptically.

"We checked."

"And?"

"Well, let's just say that if you asked the moose, 'how's it hanging?' it would say 'pretty damn low, my friend'." Said Sirius, making a nasty face.

"Thanks for the image." Lily groaned, flopping down on the couch.

Just as she sat, the portrait hole opened and Gracie came running in.

"Lily! James! You have to come now!"

"Why?" Said Lily, filled with new energy as she sat up straight as a stick.

"I can't explain, but you have to hurry!" Gracie panted, already leaving.

The Head's sprinted after her without another word about it.

Five minutes later, they were before a broom cupboard.

"What's in there?" Lily said, gasping for breath as she clutched at her stomach.

"A student. I don't know what's wrong with him, but he won't come out or let anyone in. Of course the door is unlocked, but he won't come out."

"We'll take care of it, thanks Gracie. What would we do without you?" Lily asked before walking in.

"Yeah, what would we do?" Asked James with a smile, following Lily.

"You would never realize your stupid feelings!" Gracie said, before calling, "Accio wands!"

Before Lily and James could react, Gracie had locked the door and started the muggle camera inside.

"Great job, Gracie. And might I say, you look incredibly hot when you are in a rush." Said Sirius, his black hair hanging in his eyes as him, the remaining Marauders and Emma joined her.

"Stuff it, Black." Gracie said bluntly.

"Nice wand work." Emma commented.

"Shall we see what's going on?" Said Remus, gesturing back to the common room.

"With pleasure. All was have to do is recite the incantation and we have the exact happenings of this closet projected onto the common room wall." Emma said, turning and walking off.

"This is gonna be interesting." Remus whispered to Gracie, who nodded in agreement.

No one paid heed to the bangs and shouts from within the closet.

* * *

"Do you reckon that was an accident?" James asked, pacing the closet.

"Obviously not. I don't think Gracie would say 'Accio Wands' by accident." Lily grunted, banging on the door.

"But why would they shove us in a closet together?" James said, more confused than ever.

"I bet I know." Lily mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing...Nothing."

"So" Said James, scuffing his shoe at the same spot on the floor, "What do we do?"

"Well, we could give up and stay in here forever as people of the Broom closets, we can wait till Gracie comes and lets us out, or we can sit here and bang our heads on the wall until we die of concussions."

James looked at her blankly for a moment and burst out laughing.

Lily eventually joined in, for reasons she herself didn't understand. Being with James Potter had made her a victim of indescribable happiness. She grudgingly accepted it, but still believed it was due to a drug her friends had put in her food every morning.

But suddenly, she realized the situation wasn't so funny anymore.

_I'm locked in a broom closet, the number one snog filled place in the school, with James Potter. Could life get anymore ironic? _She thought, sinking to the door and placing her head in her hands.

"Lily? Are you alright?" James asked, sitting across from her.

"This can't happen. Not to me." She said rather muffled to herself.

"What can't happen?" Said James, not noticing that he had put his hands on her cheeks and lifted her head up gently.

"I have homework! I can't worry about this right now!" Lily wailed, though it was just a set of over-dramatics.

"Breathe, Lils. It's alright, we'll be fine." James said contentedly, pulling her to him in order to give her a bear hug. She returned it just as fierce.

"Besides, people will start to miss that red hair of yours and my beautiful face. Don't worry, we'll get out soon."

Lily gave a light laugh. She was trying to act as natural as possible with James. What was wrong with her? They were best friends! Why was it so hard to keep in control of herself when he was around?

James was feeling the same as Lily, but he didn't tell her that. Every time she touched hm, he wanted to run away, screaming like a girl. When she smiled at him, he felt as though no amount of Felix Felicis in the world could make him feel any luckier.

"Do you think they put a camera in here?" Lily asked, scanning the shelves for a lens.

"Why would they do that?" James asked, blinking at her through his glasses.

"No reason." She replied, "Damn, its so cramped in here, I can't even extend my legs."

She slowly stood, gripping the shelf for support. She was stable for but a moment and then began flailing her arms wildly, screaming as she fell.

On top of James Potter.

_"_Remind me why we keep finding ourselves in this position." James groaned, obviously in pain.

"Oh, James. I'm so so sorry. Here, I'll get up." Lily said, scrambling to get upright, but she felt a hand pull her back down.

"No, Lils it's fine. I'm not in that much pain."

"No, James I'll get up. Ugh, I'm such a bloody klutz. I'm so sorry. I-"

Before she could continue, she felt a warm finger reach up to her lips and silence them.

"We'll be fine." James said, keeping his lone finger on her lips, "This is probably about as comfortable as its going to get."

Lily couldn't speak. Not because of the finger either. She didn't want to speak. Being this close to him was phenomenal. It felt like her heart was pulsing in her lips. Her eyes were drawn to his and she came an inch closer, meaning they were barely a centimeter apart.

"But I have to get up." She whispered after a few moments of lying on top of him.

"Why?" He said, looking of into her eyes.

"Because if I don't now, I never will."

"Lily, what are you talking about?"

"James, I..." She hung her head and placed it on his shoulder.

"Lily what's wrong?" James asked, sitting up with her on his lap.

"I'm just tired James. I want to get out of here." She said, leaning against him.

_She looks like a fallen angel._

_An angel you'd like to snog. _

_Shut up._

_Potter, you've never given up on her, have you?_

_Of course I have! Am I not allowed to care for the one girl who I could really consider a sister?_

_Not if you have dreams about getting that sister in your bed._

_I do not dream about her in that context._

_Not yet, my friend. But just wait. Just wait._

_I'm not going to wait. I may have had a crush on Lily for six years straight, but that doesn't mean I ever loved her. I just wanted to love her. And I do, but I'm not in love with her._

_Is there really a difference?_

_Yes. _

_Liar._

_And even if I did, which I don't, I could never tell Lily. It would ruin our friendship for good, and after just gaining it, I don't want to lose it._

_So you admit that you have some feeling towards her._

_I never said anything of the sort._

_So you say, Potter. So you say._

James looked down and found Lily asleep and curled up against him. He gently wrapped his arms around her waist and sighed.

"I wish I could tell you Lily. I wish I could." He whispered just quiet enough for no one or nothing to detect, this including hidden cameras.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, the door to the closet creaked open. Emma and Remus peeked their heads in.

"Is the coast clear?" Sirius asked, holding up a camera as he began snapping pictures of the sleeping friends.

"Aw, he has his arms around her." Gracie sighed with mock sweetness.

"If you want, I'll wrap my arms around you, Gracie babe." Sirius said.

She ignored him.

"What the hell is going on?" Lily shouted groggily as she woke up, looking confusedly at her current position.

She was blinded by the flash of a camera.

"Aghhh! Sirius Black, you arse! Gracie, why the hell?!" Lily yelled, standing up as James began to wake up as well.

"Mm, where are we?" James asked, earning a snap of the camera in his eyes.

Lily stormed out of the closet, fuming and cursing under her breath.

James left after a minute of figuring out what was going on.

"Phase one a success?" Emma asked, looking over at Remus.

"Yes and No. I think James realized it, but if only we could have heard what he whispered in her ear. Lily will be harder to crack. Girls are always harder because they are so bloody complex. You two have to use every means of reverse psychology on her and don't relent until she admits her feelings out loud. But, seeing as they are both sufficiently flustered for now, I'd say we accomplished our goal pretty well."

"Yea!" Sirius crowed, punching the air.

"Who's up for victory ice-cream?" Peter asked.

So the Marauders, Emma and Gracie walked down to the kitchens, smiling and chatting amongst themselves.

No one bothered to see if Lily and James were mad or pissed as hell or sad, because unfortunately, both were.

And not for the reason they should have been.

* * *

**A/N: Well, that was a rather long chapter, I think. I require at least fifteen reviews for this one, ladies and gents. Just kidding. But you know how much I love/need/crave-like-a-maniac reviews. I am also answering any questions you people have about the story so far, which I will explain next chapter. Read and Review! It really does inspire me to write more! **


	8. Hogsmeade & Harry

**Author's Note: Chapter 8! I'm very excited by the amount of reviews and support I've been getting. I love you all!! SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT AT THE BOTTOM OF THE CHAPTER, SO READ IT PLEASE!! Oh, and I should also mention that I do not own Harry Potter. So before you sue me, let me just make that clear. I OWN NOTHING!!**

* * *

The score-board was now reading:

**Marauders: 127 **

**Marauderesses: 126**

The entire school checked it every Saturday, and they were now in their fourth week of pranking. Last week had been quite the week, the Marauderesses playing a tape of Sirius' singing over the entire intercom and the Marauders stealing all of the teacher's underwear and hanging them on the chandelier in front of the Great Hall.

Quidditch had started and on top of Head's duties, James had to Captain his team, driving Lily absolutely nuts because there was never any time to sit and talk to him anymore. They tried to make times on weekends to hang out and do homework, but that was when prank planning was necessary.

Angelina was still a he/she, and berated everyone to tears with supreme bitchiness. Lily had a haunch that she would crack eventually, but for now, she was still as hairy as could be.

She actually did crack eventually. It happened on the morning of the first Hogsmeade trip, just as the older students of the school were starting to line up outside.

Lily and James were at the front of the crowd, ushering excited third years through the security proceedings as Filch jammed the security sensor into every ones stomachs.

Suddenly, there was a commotion up ahead. Lily gave James an exhausted roll of the eyes and started to the front of the crowd, which was not moving.

"Oi! You!" Lily shouted to the person screaming and ranting, "Start walking!"

She blinked when she saw Angelina raise a mega-phone to her mouth and yell, "The Marauderesses are the coolest and are sure to win the prankwar! They have my vote!"

Suddenly, Angie's body began to convulse and the hair on her body began to fall to the ground. The crowd stepped back as she molted not just her hair, but her clothes as well. Screams of horror erupted from the back of her throat as she ran; the only bit remaining on her was the "souvenir", a uni-brow.

The crowd burst into laughter as the prep ran, bare naked. Lily could have sworn she heard Sirius yell, "Wow, dinner and entertainment! What a party!"

James grinned at Lily and she beamed back and they told the students they were free to go to Hogsmeade. Lily began to make her way through the hoard of third years towards her fellow Head, but her friends linked their arms through hers, steering her in the opposite direction of James.

"But, I need to be with him!" Lily cried, much to her own surprise. She had been avoiding her friends lately, after the closet incident, but it was impossible to stay mad at the only girls who made her feel happy.

"No Jamesie today. No Marauders. We have a mission to carry out Miss Evans." Gracie said in an "as a matter of fact" voice.

"What's the mission?" Lily asked fearfully, hoping her friends weren't going to make her do something drastic.

"Well, let's see. Besides pranks, what have you been planning in the last couple weeks?"

"The ball?" Lily guessed uneasily.

"And what, dare I ask, is coming up in exactly two weeks?" Gracie said, tucking her scarf around her neck tighter. (It was getting chilly out.)

"The ball." Lily said, sure of herself this time.

"And what do you not have a formal dress for?"

"I am not wearing a formal dress to the ball." Lily said flatly, walking ahead of her friends and dislodging their arms from hers.

"Oh yes you are. What else would you wear?"

"Well, Professor Dumbledore said that I only have to be there to supervise, meaning I can show up in slacks and a blouse."

"Are you crazy?" Emma exploded, eyes bulging in disbelief.

"The first dance that can be formal and you are not going to dress up?" Gracie said, both her and Emma catching up to Lily's power-stride.

"I just don't want to. Besides, what's the point of going to a dance without a date?"

"Might I remind you, Lily, we are the Marauderesses. Men are below us. We don't have to worry about dates, because boys should beg to go with us." Gracie said, her brown eyes distant and filled with something that almost looked like regret for saying that.

"We'll go as friends. Plus, it's a dance in which we are paired up with someone to dance with. How could it be so bad? Maybe your beloved James will sweep you off your feet." Emma prompted.

At this, she earned a withering glare from Lily.

"Despite that glare, we are going to buy dresses. And for once in this whole Goddamn year, we are not going to care about how fat it makes us look." Gracie joked, giving Lily a one armed hug.

The red-head laughed, thoughts of being a single dateless dweeb vanished from her mind.

* * *

"How about this one?" Gracie asked teasingly, holding up a pink dress with extremely puffy sleeves.

"Pink looks awful with my hair! Are you kidding me Gracie?" Lily shouted, leaning over the rack and knocking the dress out of her friend's hands.

"C'mon Lily, we've all bought a dress except you. It's not that big of a deal!"

"Oh yes it is! I have to look absolutely perfect, no ifs ands or buts." Lily said sniffily, poking Emma.

"Why do you have to look so perfect?"

"Because I... I don't know." Lily said, sitting confusedly on the dress shop floor, "I just do."

"Is it a boy?" Gracie asked slyly, looking as innocent as possible.

"Like I would tell you if it was." Lily scoffed jokingly.

"We, may I add, are your best friends. We would never tell anyone who you liked!" Emma said, slipping her arm comfortingly around Lily's shoulders.

Lily actually thought about it, and then shook her head. "I don't even know if I like this guy myself."

"Well when you do, will you promise to tell us who it is?"

Lily looked up at her friends, the only two girls who believed her theory that men are the lowest form of life, the only people who ever cared whether her socks were purple or not (apart from James).

"I promise." She whispered, standing up and sifting through the dress rack again.

Suddenly, she felt a thump to the floor.

_Crap,_ she thought, _I knocked a dress off. _

She stood and held the dress up.

"Oh my God." Gracie said, dropping the dress that was currently in her hands.

"That's the one." Emma said, nodding approvingly.

"I haven't even tried it on yet." Lily protested.

"Then why not now?" Gracie said, shoving Lily into the dressing room.

Lily looked the dress over, her eyebrow quirking slightly as her hands ran over the fabric. She took a deep breath and pulled it over her nearly naked body.

She dared herself to look in the mirror and gasped.

She didn't look that incredibly bad.

_This will definitely draw James' attention, if not everyone else's._

_What if I don't want him to notice me?_

_Shut up and go show your friends._

"Lily! We're waiting Missy!" Gracie called form outside the door, rapping her knuckles sharply on it.

Lily walked out to two shocked-as-hell faces.

"Lily, you are..." Emma said, lost for words.

"It's really not that different." Lily said, placing a well practiced hand on her hip.

"You are a sex-goddess my friend. Wait till those boys see you. Screw Angelina, you, my dear, are in for a treat." Gracie said, circling Lily like a vulture.

Lily blushed and looked down.

"I feel girly for once in my life." She said, twisting a piece of hair around her finger.

"You have a right to. Just wait till we do your makeup and hair." Emma said.

"But...but our policy!" Lily spluttered, eyes widening.

"We'll be doing it as well. If it's a group effort it doesn't count. Plus, wouldn't you like to surprise people by actually wearing makeup and looking like a girl?" Gracie said, taking the dress up to the counter.

Lily had nothing to say to that.

* * *

"Well Prongs, now that we've bought our dress robes, I say that we deserve a butter-beer." Sirius said, flexing his fingers as he pushed open the door to Madame Rosemerta's.

"Or two."

"Or three."

"Or four." James finished after Peter and Remus.

"Excellent. Now, on a further note, we would like to turn our attention to one Lily Evans." Sirius said easily as the four boys sat their signature table in the corner of the Three Broomsticks.

"Um... on a further note, let's don't and say we did." James said, shifting in his seat uncomfortably.

"You're not gonna get off easy, mate. Plus, you haven't said anything about her since the closet incident." Sirius replied.

James groaned and banged his head on the table, just as the curvy Rosmerta came over to the table.

"What can I do ya for, gents?" She said, winking at Sirius as he smiled sexily at her.

"Four butter-beers, please." Remus said, looking sick as he watched Sirius' blatant flirting techniques.

"Alright. They'll be right up." She said lazily, giving a floozy smile and sauntering away.

"So, what about Evans?" Peter asked casually, causing James to glare at him.

"There is nothing I can say about Lily." James replied, as if the current topic was actually boring him.

"Oh yes there is. You could tell us what you whispered in her ear in the closet."

"Padfoot, I wouldn't tell you if your good looks depended on it." James spat, placing his head on the table again.

"I am very offended." Said Sirius, dramatically placing a hand on his heart.

While James had his head on the table and his eyes closed, Sirius mouthed to Remus, 'What now?'

'I'll take it from here.' Remus mouthed back, nodding his head in thanks as Rosmerta laid the drinks on the table.

"So, James. Could you answer one question? And it has nothing to do with the closet incident."Remus said, patting James on the shoulder.

"What?" James asked, raising his head from the table groggily.

"What do you feel around Lily as a friend? And answer honestly."

James looked at his friends, downed his butter-beer in one gulp and said, "Lily is one of those people who make it impossible to feel only one emotion at once when around them."

"And?" Sirius prodded, as James chugged some more butter-beer.

"Sh-She'd drive anyone so crazy they wouldn't know whether to hug her or arm wrestle her. She's real and lively and full of some kind of puissance that keeps me wanting more and more the further I go with her in this friendship. I just...can't seem to let go of her."

"You mean you still love her?" Peter whispered excitedly/

"No, but I am reconsidering it." James said with a twisted and strained smile.

"YEAH BABY!!" Screamed Sirius, doing a victory dance in his seat.

"What is so good about this?" James asked, paying for another butter-beer.

"Nothing. Just, uhhh, we thought you were actually giving up on Evans for a minute or so."

"When that happens Padfoot, I give you permission to sell me as a personal slave to any girl in the school." James replied, dipping his head in laughter.

"I could use a personal slave." Gracie said as she walked over to the table with Lily and Emma in tow, all of them carrying bulky bags.

"I would be happy to be your personal slave. Especially if I'm allowed to sleep in your dorm, Gracie." Sirius said, fluttering his eyelashes at Gracie who rolled her eyes at him and said, "You are pathetic, Black. Absolutely pathetic."

Lily sidled in next to James, giving him a humorous wink as he grinned at her.

"What's in the bags, girls?" Remus asked, picking up Emma's bag and looking at it quizzically.

"Nothing, just girl stuff." Lily said, whacking the bag out of his hand and into Emma's lap.

"Oh...that stuff. Lily, is it that time of month again for you?" James asked, as Lily took a sip of his butter-beer as if it were her own.

"You guys are on your periods?!" Sirius yelled, looking at Gracie as if she had leprosy or something.

Gracie looked blankly at him for a moment, before taking his drink and dumping its contents on his head.

"Nice one, Grae." Emma said, leaning over and giving her friend a high-five over the table.

"Thank you. I rather liked doing it, you know." She said, looking over pitifully at Sirius, who was spluttering through his drenched body.

Lily, who was cracking up at a joke James whispered in her ear about Gracie and Sirius, turned and said, "Sirius darling, you should go clean up with that. I'm sure they are done with the repairs in the prefect's bathroom. The password's 'Puddle muddle'."

As Sirius sauntered out of the bar, Emma suddenly nodded at Gracie, Peter and Remus and said, "Well, I've got a lot of work to catch up on. See ya back up at the castle."

Lily thought that odd, because she remembered Emma saying she had finished all of the work on Friday, but before she could say anything about it, her friend had left.

"Well, I'll just have to go help her." Gracie said, walking off with a single meaningful (though not understood) glance in a bewildered Lil's direction.

Remus and Peter left shortly after, complaining about the too-smoky air in the pub. Before they had realized it, Lily and James were stuck alone. Again.

"Do you ever realize that this happens quite often? That our friends become suddenly busy or ill and we are alone?" James said, looking at Lily with a playful smile.

"Don't ask me why, but they've got this weird idea that we are supposed to fall in love someday. As if that could ever happen." Lily said with a laughing scoff.

"Yeah, that would never happen. I mean, not that you aren't like-able, but you're my best friend Lils. If we went out it would be t-too...strange."

"Tell me about it." Lily said, the color of embarrassment rising in her freckly cheeks.

They sat there for a few seconds, just laughing at the absurdity of the idea.

"Hey, do you wanna go visit Harry?" James asked, standing up and stretching.

"Harry?" Lily asked, wondering who the bloody hell he was talking about.

"Remember? The moose we adopted! You named him!"

Lily's eyes widened as she remembered that day, which had also the day of the closet incident.

"Yeah, let's go." Lily said, standing up and putting a few galleons on the table.

James put his arm around Lily's shoulder.

_It's almost like a date..._He thought as they walked down the streets of Hogsmeade.

_Except you can't bloody snog the girl senseless. _The voice in his head replied saucily.

* * *

"Okay, so tell me...milk or dark chocolate?" James asked, opening the gate to Hagrid's front yard.

"Dark, because it is more deep and brings forth more pleasure, in my opinion." Lily said, pulling her hat around her ears, which were freezing from the chilly winds.

For reasons unknown to either of them, it had taken Lily and James forty-five minutes to walk a short distance. They had talked a lot, but had it really been all that distracting?

"Hi Hagrid!" James called to the extremely tall man, who was bending over some garden sprouts.

"Ah, Lily 'n James! How'ya been, you two!" The man called, giving them a gruff and painfully received hug.

"Fine Hagrid. Um, can we go see Harry please?" James begged, making a puppy dog face at which Lily laughed.

"Alrigh', alrigh', he's in the back. But beware; we got some nasty little Cabbage demons in the patch to the left o' the corral."

Lily followed James through the house and out the backdoor into the garden.

When they got to the corral, a smile spread across Lily's face that made James' heart flutter. The moose was just standing there, its big brown eyes innocent and curious.

"Hey there Harry. This is Lily, your mother. She named you, you know." James said, reaching out and stroking the moose's muzzle.

Lily stood there, smile remaining but her eyes betraying a hint of fear.

"C'mon Lily. He's your son and neglect is illegal." James said.

When she remained still, he reached out and grabbed her right, ungloved hand, guiding it to Harry's nose. When the moose rubbed against the hand in an affectionate way, she began to pet in confidently.

After a moment's content silence, she asked, "Who is the father?"

"I am." James said, as if being the father of an adopted moose was a major accomplishment in life.

"So, technically, in Harry's eyes I mean, we're a couple." Lily said, closing her eyes in a wince.

James stopped petting Harry and looked over at Lily softly, "I guess we are."

It was awkward then, neither of them knowing what to say.

"Well, for the sake of Harry, we have to keep this marriage strong." James said, releasing the tension by dramatically placing a hand on Lily's.

They stood petting him for a minute, and then James said, "I need to run to the bathroom. I'll be right back, darling wife." And with a flip of his messy hair, he was gone. Lily already missed him inside.

"Hi Harry." Lily said, offering the moose a carrot from the food bin on the outside of the corral. The big brown eyes blinked back at her in thanks.

"I'm not sure why I'm telling you this, but you know daddy? I think you are actually lucky to have him as a father, Harry."

Another blink.

"I'm not sure what it is about him. But...being with him is like forever and I never want it to end."

The moose nuzzled her out-stretched palm for another carrot.

She gave him one, and while he chewed it, leaned her head against his.

"Your daddy is a very amazing man, let me tell you." Lily said, dipping her head in acknowledgement.

"He loves and lives like it's his last day on earth. He cares about everything and everyone. He's lovely and never cruel like I once thought he was. He has this knowing sense about him of when to shut up and when to continue. He's one of the best friends I've ever had, and I haven't even just begun to get to know him."

Harry looked at her, undoubting and understanding. Suddenly, it was like she couldn't control keeping it in any longer. The emotions of weeks and weeks had built up and now were starting to descend in a land-slide.

Lily's green eyes watered and her lip wobbled slightly.

"Harry...I-I know that I've only known your father truly for about three months now, but...I-I just can't control myself when I'm around him. What I want is to be with him. W-...What I need is to be with him...but I...I can't just lay it all on him. He'd say I was too late, that I lost my chance. But...what I'm t-trying to day is..." She took a moment to gulp as the tears began to slide elegantly down her face.

"I...I love James Potter." Lily said, her voice barely a choked whisper as she scratched behind Harry's ears.

"I am completely and irrevocably in love with your dad, Harry." She said, her voice stronger as she brushed her tears aside hurriedly.

The moose let out low sort of grumble, which she took as a way of saying 'You didn't have to tell me. It was written all over your sappy little face, mum.'

She let out a gentle laugh at the thought of a talking moose, continuing to try and wipe away her tears, which were coming down spontaneously, with no reason at all.

"Harry dear, when you fall in love, make sure you don't do so with your best friend." She said, wiping a wet face on her sleeve.

"Who the bloody hell are you talking too?"

Lily's head snapped around to the end of the garden, where Angelina White stood, uni-brow plucked and thankfully, fully-clothed.

"No one. Myself." Lily said, trying to keep her eyes from narrowing instantly.

"Well," said Angelina with a flip of her hair, "I came here to talk to James. Is he here or not?"

Lily knew that it would be awful if she snapped back, oh but it was so tempting.

So she didn't say anything, and this time she did glare.

"You think you are so cool, Evans." Angelina spat, hopping over the fence rather ungracefully in her mini-skirt.

"I don't think, I know." Said Lily, mentally slapping herself when she realized that she had just used one of Sirius' comebacks.

"You slaggy bitch. You'll never be anything, you know that? Hanging with that purple-eyes freak Emma and the feminist transvestite Gracie. Lily, with those friends in tow, you'll never have James the way you want."

Lily felt a pang in her heart at each insult. She could usually take this kind of crap pretty well, but now that it involved James, she was reaching boiling point.

"Shut up." She growled, reaching inside her pocket for her wand.

"No, you shut up." The blonde mocked back, groping for her wand as well.

But before either of them could mutter a spell, James came out of the cottage.

"Hey ladies, what's all the fuss about?"

"JAAAMMMESIIEEE!!" Angie squealed, throwing herself around him and squeezing him to death, glaring at Lily as he turned away from the red-head.

"Um, I'll just go." Lily said loudly, shoving past James, who was still holding Angelina in his arms.

"Lily are you sure you don't want to stay with us and Harry?" James asked with a pleading look, though Lily thought it was just her imagination.

She almost did consider staying, but then she saw that James' arms were still around Angelina's waist. Jealousy filled her up and she clenched her fists.

"Yeah I don't mind! I've got a life to live! Bye Harry!" Lily yelled sarcastically, stalking up the path back to the castle.

_What was that Evans? Go back and let that slut know that James is your man!_ The evil voice in her head screamed.

_I can't. _The submissive voice said back, _I have to get out of here before I lose it completely and explode. Plus, I don't think Harry could bear seeing his mother have another break-down._

_Yeah, speaking of break-downs, what was that back there?_

_God knows...Just PMS or something. The feeling will go away soon..._

_Sure it will._

By the time Lily had finished arguing with her internal self, she realized that she was sitting on the steps of the castle, hugging her knees to herself. Nothing seemed to make any sense. She used to be in control and now, she was in shambles. The desire to break her personal vow and finally fall in love was almost overpowering. But she just couldn't do it.

"I will not fall in love." Lily said firmly, jutting out her lower lip in a pout.

She rubbed her palms up and down on her arms to create some friction; it was getting quite freezing out.

The sun sank below the tree-tops of the Forbidden Forest and the little warmth that was left in the air was snuffed out.

"Need some company?" Her favorite voice asked. She hadn't even seen him approach, for she had been so lost in her thoughts.

"Honestly, I would like to be alone." Lily said, massaging her temples and breathing deeply so as to calm her erratic heartbeat.

He sat down anyway.

"Well, I hate to break it to you, but you have no choice in the matter." He said, eyes twinkling as he looked at her through his glasses.

"Please go away." Lily said, trying to lean away from his direction.

He simply hugged her to him and said, "As your best friend, I refuse to leave you alone. Especially in the freezing cold."

She glared at him, but couldn't suppress his contagious smile as it spread across her face. After a moment's contemplation, she gave up and placed her head on his shoulder.

As the sky continued to darken, they sat, either one occasionally shivering from the chilly winds.

"James?" Lily said quietly, not really knowing why she was speaking so softly.

"Mmm?" He asked, opening his peacefully closed eyes.

"Can I tell you a secret? You know, because we're best friends and all."

"Sure Lils, you know you can tell me anything. I promise I'll keep it a secret."

She sat up straight, looking at him with bright eyes despite the starless sky. James felt his chest contract as she shifted close, bringing her pink-with-cold lips to his ear. He felt her breath on his neck and face and closed his eyes. This was all he really needed. Having Lily close to him gave him such a rush of adrenaline that he could probably run a marathon.

"I am deathly afraid of the Giant Squid in the Black Lake." She whispered

A bark of laughter escaped his mouth before he could stop it. He was relieved to know that she was laughing as well. That was one of the things that made Lily so spectacular in his eyes; her rapid change of emotions was the thing that always surprised people about her the most.

"Well guess what my secret is?" He said, taking his hands in hers.

"What?" She questioned, shuddering as he shifted towards her and whispered in her ear.

"I scream like a girl every-time I get caught on a staircase that moves." He said, laughing at her aporetic look.

"Well, I would love to see that for myself." She whispered back, letting out a soft giggle.

Suddenly, he reached forward and tickled her and she screamed in shrill cachinnation. Squirming and trying to crawl away, Lily began to wheeze in silent laughter.

After several minutes of struggle, she managed to rasp, "Please let me go James! Please!"

He did, but kept her sitting on his lap. There noses were barely millimeters apart.

"It's um...nice to know we can count on each other when it comes to embarrassing secrets." James said, his big, rough but gentle hands covering Lily's.

"Yeah it is." She said, touching her forehead to his.

_Any minute now..._His head chanted.

"LILY! JESUS CHRIST WOMAN! WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN!" Gracie screeched as she threw open the doors of the castle.

Lily and James thought it odd that she was solely accompanied by Sirius.

But before the red-head could explain where the hell she had been and why, the brunette had yanked her up off of James and yelled, "They are about to lock the castle bloody up! Are you bloody serious! You could get hypothermia and then we would all commit suicide because we felt so guilty about leaving you and this block head in this arctic weather!"

"I'm sorry Gracie. And I'm coming now, don't worry. But just for the record, I know that I would never get hypothermia because James would keep me warm."

Gracie opened her mouth but James cut her off, "I'm sorry mummy dearest, but I was the one who coaxed Miss Evans to stay out after her curfew. Please don't punish her."

Gracie's eyes barely softened at James' pathetic attempt to make her feel sympathy.

"Absolutely useless." She said, shaking her head with a wry smile, grabbing Lily's hand and leading her inside.

"Is there a reason it was only you and Gracie that came looking for us?" James asked Sirius sneakily.

"She wouldn't have been with me unless you guys were missing." His friend replied, "I don't even get that girl. I try to make light, meaningless conversation and she gives blunt, get-the-hell-away answers. I flirt and get kneed in the groin and slapped in the face."

"Pads, I absolutely forbid you to give up on Gracie. She may be a tough nut to crack, but I think she'll come around soon enough."

"Well what about you and Lily?"

"What about us?" James asked, checking to make sure the girls were well ahead so they couldn't listen in on the conversation.

"You obviously aren't over her."

James sighed in agreement as they walked into the common room.

"I'm trying to move on though. I'm dating someone." He said, not very surprised when Sirius tripped and fell onto the floor at Gracie's feet.

"Clumsy much?" She said, plopping down beside Lily, whose face had suddenly turned from flushed to ashen grey.

"You're dating, James?" She asked, eyes darting frantically around the room.

"Yeah. I hope its okay with you Lils." James said, looking worriedly down at his friend as Gracie nudged Sirius repeatedly with her foot.

"That depends on who you're dating." Lily said with a joking voice, though inside her heart was breaking with every word he said.

"Oh, it's Angelina White."

There was a silence in the room, minus the noise of Sirius leaping up and tackling Gracie down and tickling her sides as she screamed in both mirth and horror.

"That's fine James. You know your happiness matters to me the most." Lily said, trying her best to plaster a smile on her face.

It must have looked convincing enough, because he embraced her, saying, "Thanks Lils. You are the best friend a guy could ever have."

He pulled Sirius off the floor (Gracie had finally taken control of the situation and given him a well deserved treatment) and walked off to the Great Hall for dinner.

"So, what did I miss?" Gracie asked, cracking her just used knuckles.

Lily scrutinized the floor venomously for a moment before storming off to the dorm, stopping for a long enough time to say, "He found himself a girlfriend."

After the slam of the door, Gracie's face split into a smile as she threw herself back on the couch.

"You look happy. Did Sirius finally give up pursuit?" Emma asked, trotting over with a stack of various books in her arms.

"Even better." Gracie replied, popping a fizzing whizbee from Honeydukes into her mouth, "Lily is jealous of Jamesie's new girl.

"And?" Emma inquired, raising a single eye from her current page to her friend's face.

"Don't you know what this means?" Gracie shouted, sitting up and nearly throwing herself at Emma in exasperation.

"No I don't. What does it mean?"

"Em," the brunette began, her eyes glinting with the same mischievous sparkle that Emma knew was the exact same in Sirius' , "Our dear red-head, hard-ass, tough-as-nails friend, is finally cracking."

* * *

**A/N: Okay, it's been a while, I know. I suck suck suck. But this is important so read carefully. I have a few things to sort out.**

**a) I didn't describe the ball gowns for a reason. You may think I'm an awful writer but I like to keep you all on the edge. Major descriptions of their looks will come later in a chapter where it'll count, you'll see.**

**b) I need at least 20 reviews if you really want me to be happy with you all. If I don't get 20 reviews, I think I'll kill off one of the characters. Maybe Gracie? Emma? No, I'm just kidding, no one will die, but reviews are very much loved and adored, as you already know.**

**c) Chapter 9 is almost done. I am very excited with this story and how it's turning out. As for pranks, there will be some, but they will be very low-key because I'm really trying to focus on the angst and emotional blockage that many of my characters are having. You saw some of it today in Lily, but next chapter we get some more insight on other characters and their emotions. It's going to be a bumpy ride, ladies and gents.**

**d) Okay this is the most important. You can now determine who will win the prankwar. All you have to do is leave me a nice lengthy review with a P.S. reading either Marauders or Marauderesses. I'll keep tallies and whoever gets the most will win the prankwar. If you are too lazy to review, then just PM me with the same P.S. If no one participates in this, I'll end the prankwar in a draw, because I love both sides so much. Refer to the consequences of losing in chapter three to help you decide. **

**Alright, so now that I've just written the longest Author's Note and chapter ever seen in this story, I'd like you to leave a little review. Please? Just press that little button in the corner. C'mon! Click it!**


	9. Quidditch & Quizzes

**Author's Note: Chapter nine! I actually think I wouldn't get this far! Okay, so a few things to mention before we begin. Gracie is going to be acting like a child. Her behavior will be justified later on in the chapter and you will find there is more to her than meets the eye. **

* * *

By the next week, the entire school knew that James Potter and Angelina White were going out. They acted like a couple and Angelina constantly stated her claim over him to all the girls in school. Though everyone understood he was her possession, while talking about the relationship in hushed whispers in the hallway, many students agreed that it was truly Lily Evans they were rooting for. But because of Angelina's threats, most girls were afraid to even look at James anymore, minus the Marauderesses of course. The three girls were as fearless as ever and now, they had the privilege of dealing with the unfortunate, ever-growing presence of Queen of the He/she (as Gracie and Emma now referred to her as).

Lily's Marauderess friends were actually very worried about her. They saw that she acted normal, but now and then (when James was cuddling with Angelina) she got a boiling, pissed off look in her eyes. She acted tough and confident but Emma said that the jealousy was tearing her apart obviously. Gracie said that if Lily ever saw Angie and James kissing, that she'd probably kill the blonde. As a reply, Sirius said he always liked cat-fights, at which Gracie kicked him fiercely from under the table.

As for James, he was miserable. Yes, he was dating the most popular girl in school and yes, the girl, of his dreams was his best friend, but if only he could stop thinking about his fellow Head that way. When she was in the room, he didn't see anyone else but her. Lily shone with a warmth and pulchritude that made him even happier then when he was flying on his broom.

The Prankwar had been pretty low-key for awhile. The Marauders and Marauderesses were now tied 199-199. Fan-mail continued to pour in for both teams, including bribes for forfeiting, poems, potions, and even some proposals (so Sirius claimed, as he unsuccessfully attempted to woo Gracie over).

Truth be told, each side was waiting for the other to make a move. But the school was getting tense with anticipation and the stress levels were escalating; a prank was bound to happen any day now.

On top of a raging prankwar, plans of a ball, homework, and ever growing hormones, the student body of Hogwarts School was about to have a new kind of tension...

Quidditch.

The first match of the season was set for a cool day in late November, Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff. There was no dirty tricks like there always were when the opposing team was Slytherin, but the glares and curt nods the Gryffindor team received as they entered the hall on the morning of the match were enough to make them clench their fists.

James, whose hair was looking especially unkempt today, sat down next to Gracie, who was trying to push Sirius' lips away from her face.

James ran his eyes over the table, making sure every one of his team members was there, and then dropped his head dramatically into his plate of eggs.

"Are you really that worried?" Someone asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

He raised his eyes and settled them on Lily, who was clad in a sparkling gold shirt that read 'Go Gryffindor' in scarlet lettering. Her hair was tied up in the usual bouncy ponytail, but her bangs were pulled back today, revealing the letters P-O-T-T-E-R written across her forehead. Pretty, but sporty. He liked her all the same.

"No, I'm just nervous. If we don't win Lils, well...let's just say you might want to say goodbye just in case I kill myself right after we lose."

"Oh, stop being a baby." She said, lifting up his chin to face her, "You know your team kicks ass without and doubt and you've got me, your lucky charm."

He looked at her, with her bright eyes the color of lucky four-leaf clovers, and knew she was absolutely right.

"Okay, Lucky Charm. I seem incapable of feeding myself. Will you?" He asked, offering her the fork and a pitiful face.

"Alright ickle Jamesie darling," Lily teased, scooping up some egg. "Open wide."

She continued to feed him bit by bit, occasionally collapsing in a fit of giggles. They didn't even notice the conversation going around them.

"So naive." Remus said, shaking his head with a smile.

"I agree. I mean, we're sitting here talking about them and they are so far off in lala land that they don't even realize it!" Emma replied, taking a dainty bite of her scone with lemon butter.

"Do you think they'll eventually realize it?" Remus asked, turning a page of his copy of 'Pranking: A smart and safe guide'.

"I believe so. I think that despite the many opportunities we've given them to get together, that they'll do it when they want to. They're too blind to see it. I think it'll just happen, and they won't be able to stop it. Fate is funny that way. I- I think that they just need some time to get used to the idea of liking each-other."

"I think it's strange that all three of you girls know so much about relationships, yet neither of you have been in one whatsoever."

"Oh, we've dated. Except Lily, I mean. In third year, Gracie went out with this one Hufflepuff guy for two days and then I dated a muggle buy last year. It...um...didn't work out." Emma mumbled, her purple eyes dimming as they slid from the focus of Remus' face to the floor.

"What happened?" Peter asked, clearly listening in on the conversation.

"Peter, it's not polite to intrude." Remus scolded, although inside he was kind of dying to know.

But before Emma could say anything more, Gracie stood up, screaming at the top of her lungs. It obviously was something major that was bugging her, because she was so loud that Lily and James even covered their ears.

"What the hell happened??" Shouted James through the beside-herself-brunette's tremendous yelling.

"HE PUT HIS HAND DOWN MY SHIRT!" She wailed, "WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU PULL SUCH A STUPID MANEUVER??"

Sirius looked back a Gracie blankly and the raised his shoulders in a shrug.

He obviously gave the wrong answer.

Gracie threw herself at him, clawing, kicking, and punching every square inch of his body that she could get to, knocking him on the floor in the process. For a moment, their friends let them alone to fight it out, but when Gracie started to tear up in rage, Lily and Emma managed to pull her off him.

"NO! Let me rip his face off! I hate him!!" The brunette fumed, trying to jerk herself out of her friend's hands.

Sirius stood, brushing some blood from his lip. "What is your problem Gracie?" Sirius yelled, attempting to lunge at her as his friends grabbed him and restrained him.

"MY PROBLEM??" Gracie shrieked, as students in the hall began to turn their heads and look at the scene. "You're the one who treats me as if I'm your personal slut! Let me make one thing clear, I'm not your slut! I'm not even your girl! I'm no-body's girl; no one has control of me. Just leave me the hell alone!"

Tears were coursing down Gracie's cheeks and she was shaking with fury. Her face was red and her brown hair was skewed.

"I never said you were my personal slut! Or girl or whatever! Stop thinking you are the only thing that exists in this world! Get off your high horse and stop treating people like they're below you! You might even want to take that stick out of your arse and live some more!" Sirius yelled back, who continued to strain against his friends his friend's grasp.

"If you insist that I'm not your girl, then why do you drive me insane all the time?" Gracie screamed, her voice breaking with hurt.

Lily looked at Gracie and felt that Gracie was in one of those phases in which she had every emotion pouring from her. Grace Harlow was a girl of many speeds and altitudes. Most of the time, she took everything with stride. But when faced with the jeopardy of her heart, she became nasty, defensive, and angry. For some reason, Sirius invoked these emotions in Gracie more than Lily and Emma had ever seen anyone else do.

By now, the teachers were making their way to the crowd and starting to break it up.

Sirius looked up at Gracie and then down at the floor and then back at her. He stopped trying to get at her. His recently angry, grey eyes were soft and hurt. He looked raw and vulnerable.

"Maybe I want you to be my girl." He said, just loud for only the Marauders and Marauderesses.

Lily looked at Gracie's cold-looking composure and watched it all but melt away. Her grim expression remained set, but if Lily looked close enough, she saw that the hard glint of brown in her friend's eyes had become a warm, sensitive, pool of chocolate at Sirius' words. Another tear slipped down Gracie's tan cheek as she struggled with herself. Her lip quivered for a second, and they thought she was actually going to let her barrier down for once.

But, after a moment of shaky breathing and a clearing of the throat, in a firm and resolved voice, she whispered, "Just leave me alone, Sirius. That's all I want is for you to leave me alone."

James almost felt like crying at the disappointed and agitated look on his friend's face. Gracie wrenched herself out of her friend's hands and, with one last contempt look at Sirius, stormed out of the hall. She kept her face straight and Lily saw that she was no longer crying. But the evidence that she was in emotional pain was written in her eyes. Her eyes said everything about how she was feeling.

Sirius stormed out after her, shouldering his broomstick like a miner would a pick-axe, but they went in separate directions. As the remainder of the Gryffindor team left, chatter broke out again ands the students began to file out towards the Quidditch pitch. Lily gave James a last minute good-luck hug, right before he received his good luck snog from Angelina. Emma and Lily both agreed that they would wait till later to deal with Gracie, and hopefully (if she was still emotional by then) they would find out why she was acting like this.

* * *

The game was a clean out win. Gryffindor 150, Hufflepuff 0. James had caught the Golden Snitch on less than two minutes. But while everyone claimed that the 'James Potter Genius and Skill' were what won the game, he insisted that it was his good luck charm, who had been cheering him on from the left corner of the stadium.

Though the school was disappointed in such a short game, they still threw a tumultuous party in the common room after dinner that night. James was personally glad he had ended the game so early, because he could tell by the infuriated look on Sirius' face that he was in too foul a mood to play well. But now however, as James passed a butter-beer to each of his friends, he spotted Sirius shamelessly flirting with a sixth year and Gracie sitting with Emma and Lily, laughing and chatting as if nothing could be better. She even acknowledged Sirius when he started to attempt belly dancing in the middle of the room (though the acknowledgement was seen as a scoff of disgust). Neither of them seemed to even remember the shouting match they had had that morning.

_I swear, Lily and I have the most spontaneous best friends._ James thought, sitting down and laughing at the stupidity of Sirius.

At the thought of Lily, he let his eyes travel over to where she was sitting with Emma and Gracie. Her face was alight with laughter as she clutched at her sides. The painted 'POTTER' on her face was smeared and illegible. She caught him looking over at her and stared right back. A telepathic message seemed to pass between them, something that only they could understand. He nodded and together they snuck out the portrait hole into the dark, empty corridor.

"Hey." She said, wiping the remainder of the scarlet paint form her face on her sleeve.

"Hey." He said back, rushing up to her and giving her a needed (and most certainly wanted) hug.

She hummed with pleasure, almost unconsciously, completely lost in his tender touch. She could always count on James' hugs to make her feel light and free. Being cooped up in a common room for hours made Lily restless and worn, practically itching to do something unpredictable and crazy, but when James was there, she just wished time could stop and he would hold her forever, the craving for daringness gone.

And he felt the exact same way.

"I forgot to thank you for being at the game, my Lucky Charm." He murmured into her hair as they rocked back and forth.

"Well, it was the least that I could do. Is ummm...Sirius okay?" She asked, concern dousing the light of happiness in her emerald eyes.

"Yeah. Is Gracie?"

"I'm not sure. After the game, Emma and I found her in the dorm, staring out the window with a bowl of pudding in her hands. She wasn't fuming and claimed that it was just a PMS spell. But when I walked into the bathroom, there were used tissues everywhere, as if she had been crying for hours. I really have no clue." Lily said, letting go of James and sinking to the floor.

James sat down next to her, running a hand through his hair and sighing deeply. "So what do we do?"

"James, Sirius and Gracie are two of the most paradoxical people I've ever known, but if they both fight, how will they ever realize they are meant to be?"

"Well, what do you mean?"

"Why does Sirius like Gracie?"

James thought about it. Sirius did talk about the brunette quite a lot, actually. He always compared other girls with her, always spoke constantly of her 'hot bod' in a fascinated tone.

"He thinks she's independent and carefree...and he has this weird idea that she's got a lot more to her then she lets on. I know he thinks she's beautiful, but he also says when he's around her he doesn't know whether he hates her guts or loves her."

"Wow." Lily said softly. "I think that, like Sirius, Gracie gets feelings about people like a really strong sixth sense kind of thing. I think we should just let things unfold."

"Lily, you are so smart, I swear I could--."

"JAAMMESSSIIIEEEE!!" Came a squeal from the portrait hole. "I've been looking for you everywhere! C'mon, we have to go back to the party! The Yearbook, like, wants to take a picture! I think we might be runner up for this year's best couple!"

Before either Lily or James could protest, Angie swooped in, grabbed James' hand and dragged him into the common room after her, Lily following sullenly behind. The red-head found it odd that Emma had disappeared and Gracie was in the center of the room, gulping from a bottle of Firewhiskey. Lily sat down next to Sirius, who was watching Gracie with a rather perplexed look on his face.

"What happened?" Lily asked, nudging Sirius in the ribs and knocking him out of his stupor.

"Nothing." Sirius said innocently. "I simply said no girl could handle more than a mouthful of Firewhiskey and she comes up and chugs the entire bottle right then and there."

Lily raised her eyebrows with amusement. She knew Gracie wasn't one to get drunk, but then again, when faced with challenge from one of the opposite sex, she never thought twice about taking it.

They sat for a while, chatting amiably about nothing particular. Lily searched his face for signs of being especially attracted to Gracie, but Sirius Black turned out to be quite the actor. She decided to bring it up as a topic. At a peculiar time when Gracie was singing rather off-key into a bottle.

"You really like her don't you?" Lil asked.

"Do not." Sirius answered automatically, his eyes betraying every hint of an alibi.

"Do too. Why else would you flirt with her constantly?" Lily asked, relishing the guilty look in his face.

"Because I flirt with everyone. Except you Lils, you're Prongs' girl." He said cheekily, giving her a toothy smile.

"And why did you put your hand down Gracie's shirt?" Lily asked, shoving him at the 'Prongs' girl' comment.

"Because she dared me."

"She did WHAT?"

"I'm honestly telling the truth." Sirius said, throwing his hands up in the air as a means of giving up. "We were talking; she said I was a coward for making nothing but perverse advancements towards her. I said she was sexy. She said that real men were daring and sacrificed their dignity. So I reached down her shirt and poked her boob."

Lily let out a guffaw of laughter, "You really are thick. What Gracie meant was for you to leave her alone."

Sirius' face darkened, "Well, she doesn't have to worry about me now. I'm leaving her alone for good."

"Don't." Lily said, placing a hand on Sirius'.

"Why? That's all she's ever wanted me to do." Sirius said, his hair swinging forward as he hung his head miserably.

They watched in silence as Gracie drunkenly stood on the table and began dancing crazily. Lily prayed that she would forget this ever happened.

"But in Gracie language," Lily began, squeezing Sirius' hand, "Go away means being near you brings to much emotion on her. She can't handle it."

"So, she wants me?" Sirius asked hopefully, rising from his seat to go and talk to Gracie.

"No. It means she's trying to get you out of her head, but is having trouble." Lily said, "Don't stop trying though."

Sirius looked at her for a moment, and then over at Gracie, who was trying to get Remus and Peter to dance with her. "You know, Evans, a year ago, I would never think that we would ever have this long of a conversation. But it's nice to know that the Marauder charm is unbeatable."

"In your dreams, Black. As long as there are those who speak out against you, there will always be resistance to the Marauder charm."

The two smiled at one-another, happy that after six years of arguing, they had reached the stage where they could relate. Sirius held his hand out, and Lily shook it, though each of them tried to crush each others fingers. In a friendly sort of way.

Sirius began to walk towards his friends, but turned and said, "Oh and another thing. James might not wait forever."

"What?" Lily asked sharply, confused at the random notation.

"Lily, the guy may love you, but no one can wait that long."

Lily's eyes widened and she said, "Sirius, James doesn't love me. And I don't love him. Do the words 'just friends' mean nothing to anyone?"

He gave Lily a cocky grin and suavely replied, "Yeah, they mean something. But then again, you and James have always been the worst liars."

And with that, he walked off, leaving Lily more bewildered than ever. She plopped down on the sofa again and watched Gracie on her drunken swagger around the room, flirting outrageously with boys and mocking the girls cruelly in a slurred voice. But after a while, Lily couldn't help but let her eyes wander over to James. He was sitting on Lily's favorite reading chair, Angelina in his lap, cooing over him and raking her manicured fingers through his hair. And despite the monstrous wave of jealousy coursing through her, Lily only looked at James.

_He really is a remarkable man_. She thought, tipping her head to the side to get a better view. His face looked tired, but in a pleasant way. His hazel eyes brilliantly reflected the flames in the common room fire, making them more endearing and tender. To her that is. Everyone else probably only saw his eyes as cheerful and humorous, but to Lily, those eyes of various flecks of brown, green, amber, and blue were what made them all the more emotional.

Setting her head tiredly on her palm, she imagined herself sitting on his lap, pulling teasingly at his onyx shaded hair, and maybe planting a few kisses on his velvety lips. She would gaze at him for hours and tell him every minute that she loved him.

_Wait, do I love him?_

_Yes, Evans, you most certainly do._

_I don't love my best friend._

_Yes you do._

_Will you stop pestering me?_

_You started it._

_Did not. I never even thought about being attracted to him._

_Then why are we even having this conversation Evans?_

"Uhh...Lily?"

The red-head's neck snapped around and she exhaled to only find it was only Emma.

"Sorry, I um...dozed off."

"While staring at James?" Emma said, grinning devilishly.

"No. My eyes were staring at the wall behind his head." Lily defended, blushing as she glanced over at James.

Emma glared suspiciously, but said nothing more of the matter, as she sat down next to Lily and began reading. As discreetly as possible, Lily tried looking over at James without Emma noticing. It was near impossible.

Thirty minutes later, the party began to disassemble and Gracie had gone from loud and obnoxious to giggly and cheery, though still outrageously drunk. She lumbered over to her friends and fell over on her arse, hiccupping and laughing insanely. She lay down and stared up at the ceiling for a minute, and then looked up at Lily.

"You're Lyle, right?" She asked, looking at Lily confusedly, "Lilo? Lula? Lola?"

"It's Lily. C'mon Gracie, lets get to bed." Lily said with a sympathetic smile.

"I'm Gracie." Gracie said, as if confirming it for herself.

"Yes dear." Said Emma soothingly, "Now get up so we can go to sleep."

"But the party's not over, Emmaleenie!" Gracie cried sluggishly, giggling spastically.

Lily simply looked at her friend, waved her wand and whispered, "Wingardium Leviosa."

Gracie cackled with childish laughter as they levitated her up to the dorm. But as they entered the dorm, Lily dropped her wand, sending Gracie crashing onto the bed.

Lily and Emma sat down, exhausted, as Gracie began to tipsily sift through Lily's belongings. She pulled out a photo album and began go through it.

"Gee, Loo-loo, you sure do look funny with glasses." She hiccupped.

"That's my mum, Gracie." Lily said, acting as patient as possible.

"Lily, you were a fat kid."

"Emma, your skin is sooooo pale."

"Lily, why do you have a picture of James in a bathing suit?"

They were about ready to hit Gracie with a stunner, when the brunette suddenly stopped laughing and criticizing. Her giddy smile was gone and the laughter in her eyes was replaced with a sad sort of melt. The chocolate-pool eyes were back.

"Wh- who is this?" Gracie asked, her voice emitting a small hiccup, her eyes wide and innocent.

Lily looked over Gracie's shoulder and said, "That's Sirius Black, Gracie."

Gracie looked back at the picture, in which Sirius was leaning on a black and white version of herself, batting his eyes as she scrunched her face up disgustedly. Emma came and sat next to Gracie, taking her hand and squeezing it.

"Sirius?" Gracie whispered her eyes round and shiny.

"Yeah Grae, it's Sirius." Lily said, seating herself on Gracie's other side.

Vulnerability was written all over the brunette's face. She touched the picture and smiled painfully, as if going over a sad memory. It had only been two weeks ago that Lily had taken that picture with her muggle camera. Gracie ran her hands over the picture, her face contorting in quiet emotion.

Finally, after a few minutes, she gave a soft, defeated laugh, "I think I love him." She said, almost confidently, with a wary smile.

An astonished look passed among her friends, but they stayed silent. Gracie took the photo from the album and walked lie down on her bed, putting it next to her head.

"Isn't fate a bitch?" Gracie asked rhetorically, yawning deeply and curling up in the four-poster like a cat about to nap. She mumbled something that they couldn't hear, and then fell instantly asleep.

Lily reached over and pulled Gracie's hair tie out, letting her long, sienna locks hang down.

"It's a pity that Gracie can only be emotional in times when she won't even remember it." Emma said, coming up to stand next to Lily.

"Yeah, I don't think we should tell her what she said, especially if she doesn't remember. I'm going to the Head's dorm. G'night, Em."

"Goodnight Freckles." The ebony haired girl said, giving Lily a firm hug.

Lily smiled and after blowing Gracie a friendly kiss, walked down to the Head's common room.

Nothing prepared her for what she saw when she opened the door.

Angelina was lying on top of James Potter, snogging the life out of him. She was straddling him while his hands encircled her waist. It made Lily sick just looking at it. Her heart clenched painfully and her skin became hot and prickly.

James wasn't very happy either. As much as he loved kissing girls, he found Angelina's technique rather...slobbery. He told himself that it was Lily he was kissing, and that seemed to make him feel a little better.

Lily, as quietly as possible crept up to her room, taking extra care to slam the door as loud as possible. She smiled grimly at the sound of Angelina's squeak of surprise as James sat up and knocked her to the ground.

The red-head closed her eyes and leaned against the wall of her closed dorm.

_It's been a long day, _she thought, laying down to a restless sleep.

_You can say that again..._

* * *

"Are you absolutely sure they were snogging?" Emma asked over the yelling of the Marauders, who were playing a game of exploding snap in the corner of the common room.

"I'm positive. Unless James had spinach in his teeth and Angelina decided to clean it off with her tongue." Lily said, taking down notes from her book. She occasionally glanced over at the Marauders, smiling at their triumphant shouts as the cards blew up again and again, singeing their eyebrows.

"Did Gracie take her hangover potion?" Emma asked, transfiguring her pillow into a cat.

"Yeah, but only the first portion I gave her. She's not going to be happy about taking that again." Lily answered, transfiguring the cat back into a pillow.

Emma looked around and then lowered her voice, "I'm glad she doesn't remember anything, about what she said and all."

Before Lily could agree with her friend, a piece of parchment popped up on her lap.

**My dearest Head Girl,**

**Would you like to send the quizzes off now? For the personality thing at the ball? Just say the incantation and everyone will have one, it's all set up. Thanks Lucky Charm.**

**much love,**

**Your Jamesie**

Lily smiled at the familiar scrawl, raised her wand above her head and cried, "Expertus Alumno!"

Instantly, a small scrap of paper appeared on every 5th-7th year in the entire school with three questions on them. Lily grabbed her quill and began to write.

"I have a feeling this dance is going to be rather nice." Emma said, smiling as her quiz vanished after she finished it.

"Only one more week!" Lily exclaimed nervously, stealing yet another glance at James, who was bent over his quiz, his dark eyebrows creased as he scribbled. Lily would have given anything to read what he was writing.

But the quiz vanished before she could ask to look. He stuck out his tongue at Lily in a teasing manner and as a response; she blew a raspberry at him.

"Do you want to go see how Gracie's doing?' Emma asked, interrupting Lily's silly face contest with James.

"Sure." Lily said with a smile, skipping up to the dorm. They opened the door.

"AGGHHH!! TOO BRIGHT!! CLOSE THE DAMN DOOR!!" Gracie screamed as the entered, looking unhappily at them through her sunglasses.

"Sorry Gracie." Lily whispered, knowing the brunette was sensible to noise at the moment.

"How are you feeling?" Emma asked, seating herself on her bed.

"Terrible." Gracie croaked, "I feel sick, sensitive and oddly remorseful...Did I kill someone last night?"

"No, Frown." Lily answered, "You just...let go for a while."

"I wish I could remember what happened last night," Gracie said. "I have this feeling that I cried some. And I think I went through your photo album because there was a picture of Sirius on my bed this morning."

Her friends exchanged looks of slight panic.

"Well, we lost track of you. But I can assure you that you did drink." Emma said carefully, avoiding her friend's eye.

"I guess I can honestly say that getting drunk sucks." Gracie said, taking a swig of her hangover potion with a grimace. "I sent that quiz by the way. It was dumb and I couldn't read the questions."

"Speaking of things that are sucking, I checked the scoreboard and the Marauders are ahead by one point." Emma said gloomily.

"But don't have to worry we've got plenty of pranks going on this week plus the big prank at the dance." Lily supplied confidently, grinning at the thought of what they had in store.

"I'll drink to that." Gracie said, downing the rest of her potion.

In less than twenty seconds she was asleep.

"Did you check the fan-mail?" Lily asked Emma, slipping a sweater on to go outside with.

"Yeah, nothing from the Marauders so far, but you never what they're up to, do ya?"

"Ain't that the truth."

"So... are you sure they were snogging?"

"Emma," said Lily firmly, "Don't make me hex you."

"Okay okay! Did you say anything to them?"

"No I just...walked into my room as quietly as possible. I mean, I hate hate hate Angelina, but I have to accept that she's James' girlfriend and has a higher spot on the food chain than me."

"Oh don't say that. James will always care for you, you guys are best friends. It'll never go wrong with you two."

"Thanks Emma. I'm going to ask James if he wants to go to the library. We have to plan some last minute things about the ball."

"Alright, see ya." Emma called, lips twisting in a knowing smile as her friend walked out of the room.

* * *

"No, I don't think we should do that." Lily said, shaking her head, "I like the idea of a wintry setting, since this dance is two weeks before Christmas, right before break, but James, we can't possibly have the dance outside!!"

"Why ever not? Lily, just think, we could have a colorless dome keeping warmth in around the dance floor. It'll be set up to only admit wizards and witches of ages fifteen and up. We'll have the sky before us and Professor Sinstra said the weather that night will be crisp and clear! Please Lils?" James begged, giving her his most pitiful, innocent, adorable look.

Lily considered it for a minute and then nodded acutely.

"Good. Now that that's settled, would you care to help me put these fliers up?" He asked, giving Lily a stack of multi-colored paper.

"Wanted: Marauderesses. Reward: A night with the Marauder of their choice." She read aloud, guffawing after she finished.

"What?" James asked, looking rather affronted.

"This isn't going to work." Lily said, wiping hysterical tears from her eyes.

"Is too!" He defended, looking at Lily as if she was nuts.

"If you want the Marauderesses to come out, why don't you just ask them to?'

"How?"

"Write them a letter." Lily stated simply, taking out some parchment and a quill and handing them to him.

"What do I start with?" James asked in a babyish tone, making his eyes widen at Lily like an owl's.

"How about, Dear Midnight, Freckles and Frown." Lily prompted. He wrote for a minute.

"Okay, now what?"

"Compliment them. Girls in business like it when their technique is enjoyed."

"How about, I liked the trick you played on Angelina two weeks ago?"

"You liked that?" Lily asked abruptly, an odd fuzzy feeling spreading throughout her body.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, but any group of girls that decide to turn another girl into a he/she is truly genius." James said, writing another sentence down that Lily couldn't make-out.

"But...she's your girlfriend." Lily blurted, not believing that she herself was defending her sworn enemy.

"Yes, but everyone should be able to laugh at something funny, even if it happens to someone you care about or yourself." James said as he continued writing furiously. "I mean, remember that time you were staring at someone as you walked into the Great Hall, tripped over your untied shoe, fell on your arse and laughed yourself silly? It's things like that that people should be able to laugh about. I think that Angie just didn't like getting shown up by another girl."

Lily was amazed at James' sudden insight-fullness at the moment. He was so spontaneous that every conversation with him was like thrill ride.

"I finished the letter but I'm ripping it up and throwing it away." Said James, carrying out his promised actions.

"Why?" Lily asked, wishing she could have read it.

"Ummm...I think I should write it with the rest of the guys." James lied, though Lily believed him whole-heartedly, "Do you wanna go grab a snack in the kitchens?"

"Cookie dough ice cream is involved, yes?" Lily asked, standing up and putting her bag on her shoulder.

"Oh, you know it." James said, placing an arm around her shoulder.

* * *

Name: _Lily Evans_

Year: _7th_

#1) What is your favorite food and why?

_Cookie dough, because whenever I eat it, I'm with James Potter and he's eating it along with me._

#2) If you were a song, what would you be called?

_Voices in my Head_

#3) If you were stuck in a basement for the rest of your life, who would you want to be stuck with? Why?

_James Potter, because he will always have a way of entertaining me and making me snort milk out of my nose in laughter, he is my best friend in the world, and we will always be cookie dough monsters for as long as we live._

* * *

Name: **James Potter**

Year: **7th**

#1) What would your life story be called?

**How to drive a girl crazy for six years and then become her best friend, while falling in love with her.**

#2) What do your dreams usually involve?

**Lily suddenly hating me because I blurt my feelings out at her.**

#3) If the world were ending in ten minutes, what would you do?

**I would run to Lily and consider telling her my feelings, but then chicken out. Then I would take her to the kitchens and we would eat cookie dough together as a final farewell. And after that, maybe as we were all incinerated, I would kiss her as a final reassurance that she is truly the only girl that has ever mattered to me. **

* * *

**A/N: Okay, that was a long chapter. I hated writing it. I don't like this chapter at all. So I won't be mad if you hate as well. At first, I liked it a little, but now that I'm reading over it, its sucks. It's lacking humor and is full of angst (for character development) and I'm horrible for writing it. Just for fun, I'm going to be writing a chapter 10 completely dedicated to humor and laughs. This was hard and angsty so I think you guys deserve some light-heartedness. ****By the way, those question and answer things from Lily and James were their quizzes that they took. For the ball, which I am so excited to write about by the way. And, last but not least, please review. I BEG YOU!**


	10. Geraniums & Germ Theory

**A/N: It may please you to know that this chapter is dedicated entirely to humor and pranking so please enjoy and review. I would like to get to 100 reiews. Eventually. Thanks for all that review regularly!! I did try really hard to incorporate more Marauder randomness and tone down the emotional depth so I hope I did an okay job!**

* * *

"Now, as you can see, the peacock (depending on it's gender) will either a teapot or teacup. So please take your peacock and transfigure it. The spell is 'pavonis demimonde'."

It was a frosty Wednesday morning (meaning four more days till the ball!) at Hogwarts. The class sat, wrapped in their scarves and sweaters, rapt with attention; it was Transfiguration after all. There was a shuffling as the 7th years all tried to gather their wands.

At the Northern end of the room, the Marauderesses sat, stifling their laughter and giving each other smug grins. At the Southern end, the Marauders winked at one another and seconds later, Remus whispered something, and a nearly translucent spell shooting across the room, completely unnoticed.

"Do you think the Marauders will try something?" Emma asked, adding a few flowers onto her teapot/peacock.

"Doubtful." Lily answered back. "They're waiting for us to make the next move."

The three girls looked simultaneously over at the Marauders, who seemed to be rather confused.

James' peacock let out a loud squawk as he poked it with his wand.

"Mr. Black, since you have clearly mastered the charm, is it possible that you and your friends could demonstrate?" McGonagall asked, gesturing to the Marauders, none of which were even using their wands.

Listlessly, as if it was no big deal, (performing a spell they hadn't tried), the boys raised their wands. Lily's lips twisted into a smile as she marveled at the calm but determined smile on James' face.

As soon as the incantations left the Marauders' mouths, a rather odd thing happened.

Instead of the peacocks transforming into teacups/pots as was planned, a shower of pink and red blossoms shot out of their wands, covering their feet.

Despite McGonagall's attempts to keep everyone under control, the entire class went berserk. The feeling of extreme ennui went away in seconds and soon everyone was chattering excitedly and laughing. Even the Professor gave a wry smile.

"Operation Geranium has begun." Lily said with a satisfied whisper. Her friends giggled in response.

"Oh, real smooth Marauderesses." Sirius sneered at the ceiling, as if talking with God himself. "How creative to make flowers shoot out of our wands. Clever!"

As if responding, his wand shook again and spewed out another dozen or so flowers.

James laughed uproariously at his muddled friends and tapped his finger knowingly on a letter in his hand. They sat down, wands occasionally shooting out more flowery scented showers.

The class began to settle down again and Gracie shouted, "Why Sirius, I didn't know you liked perfume so much, perhaps I should buy you a bottle?"

Sirius leaned forward in his seat towards her end of the room and said saucily, "Perhaps you should go away and leave me alone."

"Black, you're a loser if I ever met one." Gracie said.

Emma looked at Gracie disapprovingly, but stopped, mouth agape.

Two Gracies.

She wasn't hallucinating either. Sitting on Gracie's desk was an identical person. The twin Gracie stared straight ahead with an unblinking gaze. Lily was also speechless, though she seconds later snatched a letter from the twin's hand.

The real Gracie (or was it the clone?) neither saw nor acknowledged her identical self sitting on her desk. She continued to glare at Sirius, who was wearing a triumphant grin and eyeing the clone happily.

"Anything else you'd like to add to that, Gracie love?" He asked, starting to laugh at her from across the classroom.

"Yes, I do." The brunette sniffed, pretending to wretch. "You smell like shit. You look like the back of a gorilla's arse and you're breath makes me wish I were dead."

As she said those words, three more clones popped up around Gracie, yet she remained unseeing of all four of them.

"Is that all you've got to say?" Sirius prodded, his friends trying to con him out of driving her crazy.

"No, it's not." Gracie said, standing up and drawing her wand. "Petrif-!"

"STOP!" Lily yelled, grabbing Gracie's wand out of her hand.

"Why should I?" Gracie yelled back, ignoring the seething McGonagall that was walking towards the table. Lily sat the brunette down and handed over a piece of parchment, which Gracie read.

**_Gracie,_**

**_We decided to brighten your day a little since you always seem so gloomy. Every time you say something rude, a clone of yourself appears. You can't see them, but we assure you that everyone else can. Think of this as a make-out session invitation from Padfoot. If you give one compliment to one of the Marauders, one clone will vanish. If you keep rattling your pretty little mouth, well, let's just say you will never be your beloved unique self again._**

**_Good day ma'am._**

**_Sincerely, _**

**_Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs_**

**_P.S. - Defensive spells will bring ten more clones at once_**

She put the paper down and sat, shaking with suppressed rage and giving Sirius the most horrific look she could muster; he turned, looked at the floor and began sweating.

Meanwhile, James scanned over the letter he had gotten before passing it among each of his friends.

**_Dearest Marauders,_**

**_Good morning. We hope you are in the mood for some nice tom foolery today. We thought that since all of you smell like a donkey's arse that you might want a change of scent. So, occasionally, whenever we feel it's necessary, sweet smelling Geraniums will surround you, hopefully drowning out the smell of dragon dung. Don't thank us, it was our treat._**

**_Have a lovely, flowery day!_**

**_Sincerely, _**

**_Midnight, Freckles and Frown_**

**_P.S. - The spell lasts for twenty four hours. The only way to reverse this before then is to forfeit the Prankwar._**

All four of the boys were thoroughly agitated by the letter.

"We smell bad? I think we are the sexiest smelling guys in the school!" Sirius said, sniffing his armpits confusedly.

"Which would explain why you haven't had a girl friend since the beginning of school." Gracie shot back, slumping in defeat as another clone appeared.

"No way would we forfeit the prankwar!" James shouted incredulously, earning a scolding from the Professor and a spew of flowers from his wand.

"We smell like arse?" Peter asked in wonderment.

"How immature." Remus grouched.

The boys all started talking in hushed tones and the girls turned to the original Gracie as she glared murderously at Sirius.

"I hate him. Him and his stupid head of black hair." She said childishly.

"It's okay Grae." Lily said, giving her friend a one armed hug. "I just hope your clones know how to stay away from Sirius so he doesn't bed them."

Gracie looked up at her friend, and then began banging her head repeatedly on her desk.

* * *

When lunch came around, the school was buzzing happily once more. Flowers paved the hallways and Gracie Harlow never seemed to be missing from a room.

Despite this, however, the three girls were having (or were going to have) and even more exciting day then everyone else.

"You know, having twelve invisible clones isn't that bad." Gracie said, twisting her ponytail around her index finger.

"Gracie, twelve insults in three hours?" Lily asked perplexedly. "You are crazy."

"Maybe so, but I'm not the one who is head over heels for my best guy friend." The brunette snapped back.

"What?" Lily asked sharply. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Sure you don't, Freckles." Emma said airily, bending over her homework.

"Do you have the potion, Emma?" Gracie asked conversationally, though she lowered her voice a little, scanning the hall with narrowed brown eyes.

"Right here." Emma said, lifting a tiny bottle of bright orange liquid out of her bag for a brief moment. "And Gracie, you'll put it in, correct?"

"I'd love to." Gracie said, batting her eyes and giving a falsely sweet smile.

Suddenly, Lily felt a tickle in her ear that sent shivers down her spine.

"Would you care for a Lily, Lily?" James whispered, putting a single Tiger Lily on her lap.

"Oh, how very sweet of you James." Said Lily, giving a him friendly kiss on the cheek.

_Why did I just do that? _She thought.

_Did Lily Evans just put her lips on my cheek?_ James asked himself.

_Yes Potter, she did._

_Then I'm never washing my face again._ He thought, sitting down as he blushed a deep red.

"Where's girlfriend?" Lily asked, pouring a glass of pumpkin juice and passing it under the table to Gracie.

"Well, she said she would be here once she touched up on her makeup." Said James glumly, not very heartened by the thought of his current girlfriend.

"JAMES!" Cried Angie as she ran up and sat on his lap, her face as Barbie-like as always.

Before he could even say hello, the blonde pulled him in by the collar of his shirt, kissing him with too much force for his liking. Gracie mimed choking on her macaroni and Lily had to hold back a shout of laughter.

"Tea, Angie?" Gracie offered. "Pumpkin juice? Flavored water?"

"I'll take pumpkin juice." Angie demanded without even a thank you.

"Alright, here, you can have my glass." Gracie said. "It's really fresh today!"

Angelina took it and gulped it down.

James, who had been watching his red-head friend with a relaxed expression, caught his eye on Sirius, who was standing in the entrance of the hall with a pointed look on his face.

James stood up; grabbing is bag, swinging it over his shoulder. "Well ladies, I'd love to hang but I have a previous engagement to attend to."

"WAIT!" Angie cried, throwing her arms around his waist as an attempt of keeping him from going away. "What about my goodbye kiss?"

The Marauderesses leaned forward in their seats, knowing well what was about to happen. James sighed, and moved his lips towards his girlfriend's. But oddly enough, Angie's lips never met James. Instead, her face veered off to the side, as if purposely turning away from the kiss.

"What?" Angie asked, bewildered, opening her eyes once realizing her lips had not met their destination.

In a vain attempt to repair the apparent mistake, the blonde grabbed her boyfriend's face and tried forcing her lips onto his several times. But every attempt sent Angie's lips careening away from James' face.

The blonde let out a high pitched scream of anguish, James ran out of the hall, and Lily, Emma and Gracie shared a high-five all under the Gryffindor Table.

Ten seconds later, the unnoticed letter in Angie's lap exploded in flames and a loud voice erupted around the hall.

"FROM THE PRANKERS THAT BROUGHT YOU ANGELINA THE HERMAPHRODITE, LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, THE MARAUDERESSES PRESENT YOU THE COMPLETELY UN-KISSABLE ANGELINA WHITE!!"

Every student in the hallway (including some happy-go-lucky-slytherins!) burst into a raucous applause. The stress of schoolwork lessened and laughter was heard in the halls again. Angelina stalked out of the hallway with her fearful posse behind her. Lily looked at her friends, and simultaneously, the three girls started cracking up. _For the_ _Marauderesses_, Lily thought at as her friends went to study hall, _all is well._

Unfortunately, everyone was too caught up in enjoying the pranks to notice that the Marauders were no where in sight.

* * *

Are you sure this plan is foolproof?" Peter asked uncertainly, rocking back and forth on his toes.

Sirius (who was currently flirting with Gracie Clone #9) turned and slapped Peter on the back of the head. "Dude, this plan is the best we've had this whole prankwar!"

Remus walked over. "Shh! We can't let anyone know what we're about to attempt. Now, where the bloody hell is Prongs?"

"Here!" James whispered from the portrait hole.

"Are you sure using the stairs won't work?" Peter offered cautiously.

"Of course not." James snapped. "You think that I've not tried getting in the girls dorm after being next door for seven years?"

"Uhh...yes?"

"No. I have tried almost every day to get up there. The thing is, there's a latch up there that, if turned off, will not detect boys if they enter the girl's dorms." James explained, patting Peter sympathetically on the shoulder.

"But we don't have a girl to turn off that latch!" Peter protested.

"That, Wormy, is where my girlfriend comes in." Sirius said, stepping forward.

"Your girlfriend?" Remus asked, raising en eyebrow.

"Boys, meet Juanita!" Sirius introduced, executing a flourishing hand gesture as a means of presenting her.

A girl identical to Gracie stood there, giggling and blushing madly at Sirius.

"Padfoot, did you know you are dating a clone?" Peter asked.

"No, I'm not! This girl, though she may look just as sexy as Gracie, is completely different from Gracie." Sirius said. "Watch."

He winked at 'Juanita', who screamed, "I LOVE YOU SIRIUS!" At the top of her lungs.

"I've found," Sirius continued, wrapping an arm around Juanita's slender, Gracie-like waist, "That Gracie's clones, though they may be the spitting image of her, have completely different personalities. Juanita, for example, is completely head over heels for me, and now I no longer have to worry about chasing Gracie."

His friends just stared at him for a minute.

"You're whacked." James said, shaking his head.

"Well then." Started Remus, clapping his hands together.

"Are we ready to begin?"

"Juanita, are you ready?" Sirius asked, turning to his girlfriend and kissing her on the cheek.

"Anything for you, Siri." She simpered, flouncing up the stairs in a dream like stare.

"Siri?" Remus asked with a cackle of laughter as soon as the girl had disappeared.

"She's very affectionate!" Sirius defended indignantly.

James and Peter soon joined in with Remus' hysterical laughter. Seconds later, Juanita shouted, "All clear!" from the girl's dorm and the boys began to traipse up the stairs, multiple bags in their hands and mischievous expressions on their faces.

* * *

"ALL STUDENTS PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY OUT TO THE BEECH TREE BY THE LAKE. I REPEAT, PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY OUT TO THE BEECH TREE BY THE LAKE. NO EXCEPTIONS."

It was three thirty in the afternoon, class was about to let out for the day and suddenly a very familiar voice was ringing over the intercom. Out of the three girls, Gracie was the first to recognize the voice, resulting in a long string of cuss words and a thirteenth clone added to the first twelve. (Unseen by Gracie herself.) Lily and Emma held back a laugh as they too, recognized Sirius' immature tone echoing throughout Hogwarts. One by one, students began to file out of the castle, headed towards the Beech Tree.

About twenty feet away from the tree, Lily, Gracie and Emma all stopped, mouths completely agape.

The Beech Tree that served as a retreat for many students at Hogwarts was now covered in pads, tampons and multiple styles of underwear.

In front of the tree stood the Marauders, smiling and waving at the rest of the school. There was also one of Gracie's clones, practically hanging off Sirius and stroking his hair lovingly. Some girls, at the sight of their undergarments on the tree, were stupid enough to run forward and grab their items off the tree, resulting in many wolf whistles and cat calls.

"Ladies and gentle-wizards!" James yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth. "May I present to you the Marauders' second prank of the day: The PMS plant!"

The crowd of students went nuts, stamping their feet while screaming and laughing. Even Gracie let out the smallest of laughs.

Eventually, the crowd began to thin out; leaving no one but the Marauderesses (the Marauders had been carried away on the shoulders of the crowd).

"Well look." Said Gracie, walking over to the tree and looking in it's hollow, "They left a present for us." She took out an envelope, tossing it distastefully to Lily.

Lily read it out loud.

**_Dear Midnight, Freckles and Frown, _**

**_We thought that in thanks of your two pranks this morning that we would make you something. So here it is, the PMS plant. We would like to point out that this is your underwear and yourpersonal hygiene products, as well as those of other girls in the Gryffindor Dorms. But, all in all, we have to thank Gracie Harlow. You might know her, petite, loud, and (as Mr. Padfoot likes to put it) extremely sexy. Anyway, if it weren't for her both foul and cruel mouth, we wouldn't have the lovely Juanita to help us. You see, Juanita is clone #9 of Gracie Harlow. So if you see her, thank her for us._**

**_Yours most cordially, _**

**_Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs_**

**_P.S.- Mr. Padfoot would like to add that he is actually dating said clone #9, Juanita._**

"HE'S WHAT??" Gracie screeched, snatching the letter from Lily's hand.

"He's dating one of your clones. A clone, might I add, that you can't see." Emma said tranquilly, ripping at the grass.

Gracie stared out over the frozen lake, her eyes clearly meaning that a murder was going to be committed. There was silence for a few minutes, and then she stood and walked off to the castle.

"She loves him." Lily stated simply, standing up and looking skeptically at the tampon/pad covered tree.

"She does, even if she doesn't know it unless she's drunk." Emma agreed.

Lily couldn't help but think of herself the same way she viewed Gracie.

Denial, denial, denial.

* * *

By Thursday, the scoreboard had sky rocketed.

**Marauders: 249**

**Marauderesses: 242**

Needless to say, the boys celebrated the week's victory by sneaking out of the castle for a night. As they did once every month, the Marauders had gone to the shrieking shack to stay with Remus to help him with his 'furry little problem'.

On Friday, just after classes got out, Lily was sitting under the Beech tree with the Marauders. Emma was finishing her novel up in the dorm and Gracie was in her bed, sulking about the fact that she now had twenty invisible clones and one of them was madly obsessed with Sirius. Juanita was somewhere looking for someone to listen to her never ending talk of how wonderful Sirius is.

"So, how do you think this week has gone so far?" Lily asked, her hair glinting in the afternoon sun like a bright red apple.

"Pretty kick arse!" Sirius crowed.

"How's the relationship with Juanita going?" The red head questioned, leaning against James and poking him in the stomach.

Sirius' expression sobered as James pinned Lily on the frosty grass, tickling her relentlessly.

"Not good. I figured that even though Gracie's never going to consent to going on a date with me, her clones aren't a good enough replacement. They're just not her. No fire, no spark. No one seems to be better than the real Gracie Harlow."

Lily gave Sirius a sympathetic smile. "Maybe you should just ask her out without a hint at sex or anything else suggestive?"

"How do you do that?" Sirius asked confusedly, as if he had never asked a girl out without asking her to sleep with him as well.

"Compliment her." Remus said. "Tell her something she'd like to hear."

"And then," James cut in, "Ask her if she would like to go somewhere for dinner. Ask her what food she likes and voila, you've got yourself a date."

"Okay." Sirius said, looking confident.

"But be careful not to come on too strong." Lily warned. "Be nice and give Gracie the space we all know she prefers."

But Sirius didn't seem to hear the red head. Instead he stared straight ahead at the castle entrance, where a lone figure was making their way to the PMS plant.

Grace Harlow, followed by her twenty clones (including Juanita) trotted over to the group and stood silently, watching them all.

"James, you're a good Quidditch player." She said with a slight wince.

POP!

The clone numbers went from twenty to nineteen. Gracie turned to Remus.

"You're smart and give good advice."

POP! POP!

Two more clones vanished. Apparently, the many other Gracies saw this and were starting to panic, running in circles and babbling like a pack of monkeys.

Gracie however, ignored her invisible clones and faced Peter.

"You are loyal and see good in everyone."

Another two clones vanished at the pair of compliments she gave to Peter, who looked fairly heartened by Gracie's words. She once again turned to James.

"You're eyes, though feminine, are pretty. You're hilariously funny."

She continued on in this matter of complimenting until there were only five clones left. Lily was having a hard time keeping a serious face and occasionally combusted into helpless giggles.

Finally, Gracie rounded on Sirius and stood over him as he sat on the grass. She hadn't complimented him once yet.

"Is there anything you want to say to me, Gracie love?" Sirius asked, the lightest of smiles dancing across his handsome face.

The brunette closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. Lily almost felt sorry for her.

Gracie muttered something incoherent which no one heard.

"Come again, Gracie?" Sirius asked, the smug grin now perfectly clear on his face.

"When you make a complete arse of yourself, you are funny." She whispered just loud enough.

POP! Four clones to go.

Gracie gulped, as if this feat was physically impossible for her.

"When you are trying to get into a girl's pants, you're kind and courteous." She spat, like the words were poison to her.

"Go on." Sirius prodded as another clone vanished with a POP!

Lily glanced piteously at the three remaining clones, who were now simultaneously screaming "WE'RE GONNA DIIIEEEEE!!"

Gracie continued with her sardonic compliments.

"When you actually take a shower and wash your body, you smell decent." She said with a sniff, reminding Lily vaguely of Petunia.

"Fair enough." Sirius said, with a sweep of his dark hair.

"On the rare occasion when you try in class, you're somewhat intelligent." Gracie added, clearly wanting this to be over.

Only Juanita was left then, sobbing hysterically about losing her one true love, Sirius.

"SHUT UP!" Gracie screamed at the clone, despite the fact that she couldn't see it. (She could hear it.)

"Now then." Gracie said, preparing herself for the last compliment, "At times, when you manage to tuck your shirt in, brush your teeth an shut your arrogant mouth, you are... a tiny bit attractive."

POP!

Juanita was gone and the spell was lifted. Gracie smiled and began to walk away, pleased she could now go back to her mean self.

"WAIT!" Sirius called, standing up and causing her to halt.

"Ugh, what now Black?" The brunette asked, turning with a glare.

"Your arse is nice. Have you lost weight?" Sirius asked, placing as easy going grin on his face.

"Excuse me?" She asked, placing a clenched fist on her hip.

"Dinner's on me babe. Italian or Chinese? What would you like?" He continued, giving James a thumbs up behind his back.

"What I'd like is for you to get the hell away from me!" Gracie screeched, smashing the heel of her shoe into his foot and storming off.

"Are you insane?" James asked as Gracie stalked away, Lily trailing behind her.

"What? I complimented her, asked her out to dinner and I didn't touch her once!" Sirius defended, shaking his head incredulously.

James looked at his friend blankly for a minute, before saying, "Ah, screw it."

"Hey!" Lily shouted as she caught up with Gracie. "Now was it really hard to compliment Sirius?"

"Of course it was." Her friend replied defiantly."Sirius is the cause of this noxious society."

"What are you talking about?" The red head asked confusedly.

"Let's speak of this in terms of germ theory."Gracie offered. "In germ theory, the belief is that micro-organisms cause diseases. Sirius and his Marauder friends are the micro-organisms in this situation. The disease, if you don't mind me saying, is society. All the lovesick girls with their makeup and Barbie-doll faces and all the guys who only think with their pants are the results of this disease. We, as in you, me and Emma, are immune to this disease- we are like the white blood cells. We fight back."

Lily couldn't help but laugh at her friend's sudden spurt of wisdom. She felt half-inclined to ask Gracie why she didn't apply that advice to dealing maturely with Sirius, but decided to keep it to herself.

Lily never was truly sure if Gracie was in a pleasant mood or not.

* * *

**A/N: You need to vote. Whoever you thought did the best this chapter prankwise is who you vote for. Your vote can change for each chapter, but I'd really appreciate it if you would vote within your review. Just add a P.S. of Marauders or Marauderesses and I'll tally you in! Thanks for reading! REEVVIIEEWW!!**


	11. Coronaries & Confessions

**A/N: Okay, I'm making a major announcement. All you Marauder fans out there need to vote! And you need to depend your votes upon the pranks of that chapter, not on who you like better just because of their personality! I believe in major girl power as much as everyone else, but please try to be unbiased when you vote. For those of you that weren't unbiased, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. **

* * *

"So, everything is set up. The band, the location, the refreshments, and the donations. It's all set, right?" Lily asked, scanning over her to-do list.

James rolled his eyes, stretching out over the rug before the common room fire. "For the millionth time Lily, yes, everything is all set, so stop panicking!"

"I'm just nervous!" She replied exasperatedly, throwing her hands about in a way that made James smile. "If we screw this up, I'll never forgive myself." She crossed the room and sat next to him. "I refuse to make a fool out of myself as Head Girl."

"You won't." James said comfortingly, taking her small pale hands in his. "And even if something does go horribly wrong, I'll be right here with you, pulling my hair out over the disaster we let occur."

"Oh, James." Lily swooned melodramatically, placing a hand over her heart, "What ever would I do without you?"

"You tell me." He answered quietly, giving his cockiest grin.

"Lily, Darling!" Gracie called from the doorway, Emma in tow.

"Hey, Grae." Lily sighed, smiling at her partners in crime.

"Are you ready to go primp and prune?" Emma asked mischievously, violet eyes glinting in the firelight.

"No." Lily said flatly, flashing a warning look in her female friends' direction.

"Do you mean to tell me that you, Lily Evans, are actually going to primp for this special occasion?" James asked playfully, his eyebrows raising a whole inch.

Lily threw a pillow at him in response.

"We'll be upstairs in exactly ten minutes, Missy. We have facials, manicures and pedicures awaiting us, Lils." Gracie said lightly, though she too looked disgusted by this fact as her and Emma walked up to the dorms.

Lily stared after her friends in mortification for a moment before turning back to James, glaring ferociously at the laughter clearly written across his face.

"I want a pedicure!" He whined, batting his eyes and forcing her into a hesitant smile.

"Sorry, but this is girl stuff." Lily protested lamely.

"What is this all for anyway?" He asked, trying to imagine Lily in makeup, a dress and high-heels.

"For the dance, smart one, which is in four hours might I add."

"And it takes that long to get ready for a Ball?" James asked incredulously.

"You'll see why it does later." She replied with an uneasy smile.

"Can I have a tiny hint as to what you'll look like?" He pleaded.

"I'll look completely ridiculous." Lily offered, leaving it at that.

After a few minutes silence, Lily picked up her book and flipped through it leisurely. "Where are the rest of the boys?" She asked.

"Doing last minute dress robe slash mask shopping." James replied.

"Do you have your dress robes and mask?" She questioned.

"Have you ever known me not to be prepared for a party?" He asked, running a hand through his onyx locks.

"Not really." She said with a smile.

"LILY! GET YOUR ARSE UP HERE!" Gracie yelled from above.

"Give me just a minute!" Lily hollered back, rolling her emerald eyes with suppressed laughter.

She turned back to the to-do list and scanned it over once more as James tried not to concentrate on the gentle curve of her neck and back as she bent over the paper. Her lips were parted and a single strand of scarlet hung from her messy bun. James all but lost it as her chest rose and fell as she breathed deeply. Any minute now, he was going to forget all dignity, leap forward, and snog the bloody hell out of her.

"What?" Lily asked playfully, raising her eyes from the parchment to his shocked face.

"N-nothing." He said, looking down and trying to calm the creeping blush going up his neck.

* * *

"Lily! Stop fussing over your hair!" Emma reprimanded, brushing her red-head friend's bangs to the side.

"And stop fidgeting." Gracie added sharply. "You're acting like a sociopath with turrets."

"Well, what the hell am I supposed to do?" Lily shouted, wringing her gloved hands.

"Stand still and quit tripping over your heels?" Gracie suggested as the trio walked down the steps of the Gryffindor Common room.

"I'm nervous dammit! We're going to be matched up to dance with someone we may loathe!" Lily cried, her face flushing at the thought of it.

Gracie shuddered and muttered something that sounded like, "Ew, Sirius."

"Look," Emma began to lecture, taking Lily's hand, "We all have to dance with someone whether we like it or not. When are they announcing the pairs anyway?"

"At ten o' clock," Lily explained as the turned a corner, "The pairs will be posted on a big board on the stage, a traditional ball dance will be played and all pairs have to participate. Couples that get along can keep dancing, while others can separate if they want."

"And what about the prank?" Gracie whispered, though there was no one in the corridor they were in.

"It's set to go off right after the pairs dance finishes." Lily answered. "And it's all perfectly in order, I checked this morning."

They walked in silence for a few more minutes, Lily continuing to pull at her gloves.

"Do you think James is there already?" The red-head asked, going with her friends down a flight of stairs.

"I imagine so, but it is really that important to you?" Gracie asked slyly, casting her eyes over at Lily.

"He's the Head Boy. If he's not there, I'll kill him."

"But of course, you have an excuse to be about twenty five minutes late, right?" Emma teased.

"We're TWENTY FIVE MINUTES LATE?" Lily screeched, stopping altogether.

"Yes." Gracie replied calmly.

Lily took off alarmingly fast for one in three inch heels.

"Ah, young love." Gracie whispered, as Emma giggled beside her.

* * *

"Where the hell is Lily?" Sirius asked for the fiftieth time in a row.

"I don't know!" James snapped.

It was seven twenty six, and the ball was supposed to have started twenty six minutes ago. Students were now clamoring in the entrance hall.

James was supposed to have Lily with him, because only she knew the activation spell for the dome that repelled the weather and kept warm air in.

"C'mon, Lily!" He pleaded under his breath.

* * *

"Lily! Slow down! You're going the wrong way!" Emma yelled, running on her heels and feeling rather afraid for her ankles.

"You guys go down to the entrance hall. I'll have to be in the courtyard to set off the dome. Plus, I plan to come in at the right moment!" She shouted back, taking off towards the courtyard.

"Do you think she realizes that she's doing this all for one guy?" Emma asked bewildered, placing her mask on her face.

"Not one bit." Gracie replied, putting her mask on as well.

* * *

It was now seven thirty four, and James was having a panic attack.

Students were also getting rather panicky, but in an irritated sort of way.

"Why didn't you just get the dome activation spell from Lily?" Sirius whined.

"Where is she?" James asked frantically, ignoring Sirius as he paced up and down the entrance of the dome. "What if she's hurt? What if she's sick and can't come?"

James saw both his professional career and piece of mind in shards at his feet, and all because he'd been too busy staring at Lily to ask her for the dome activation spell...

"Contego tempestas!" Cried a sudden voice from far off.

About fifty feet away from the castle, a gigantic, translucent bubble sprang up out of the ground. With the see-through membrane, the dome came complete with tables, chairs, food, drinks, and a stage set with a band that began playing.

The students cheered and streamed through the translucent membrane, already starting to dance.

A smile broke out on James' face as he entered the dome.

"Prongs, this is a kick arse ball!" Sirius crowed, giving him a high five as Remus and Peter walked over.

"You and Lily did rather outdo yourselves." Remus added with a smirk.

"Thanks, and speaking of everyone's favorite red-head, have you seen her?" James asked.

But his friends' attention seemed to be elsewhere, at the entrance to the dome, as Gracie and Emma walked over.

James could practically hear Sirius' 'Humanahumanas' as his friend gawked at Gracie.

The brunette was wearing a navy blue dress with criss cross straps and sashes hanging from the shoulders in the back. Her hair was pulled back in a bun, with only a few sienna strands hanging out of place and (James could have been imagining it) her face was seasoned with a modest amount of makeup, framed by a white sequined mask. She also wore white, silk, elbow length gloves.

James switched his eyes over to Emma, and was surprised to find her in a rather low cut, royal purple spaghetti strap dress which matched her eyes. Her ebony hair was curled and pinned to one side with a small clip in the shape of a moon. She too was wearing makeup, along with a sequined white mask and white gloves.

Though James' jaw refrained from falling down, he did have to admit that the two girls both looked very attractive.

"Hey, you girls look great, but do you have any idea as to where Lily is?" He asked as his friends continued to stare.

"We thought she activated the dome with you?" Emma asked back innocently.

"No, she did it from far away." James confirmed.

"Well, if we see her, we'll tell her you called." Gracie said with a smile, taking Emma and walking away, but not without making many heads turn on the way.

Sirius gave a low whistle. "Boy do I feel jealous of the guy that gets matched up with her and gets to fondle her arse during a dance."

Remus, who had just recovered from his sexy-girl induced coma, rolled his green eyes and said. "Could you at least try to be respectful of Gracie tonight?"

"Are you kidding me?" Sirius shouted, grey eyes widening in horror. "I'm going to use any means of come on to get just ONE dance with her."

Peter waked off in the midst of their bickering to the snack table, where they actually were serving waffles. Eventually, Sirius and Remus departed each other in disgust, though while Remus went to the lavatory, Sirius went straight over to the dance floor, where he executed several of his famous pelvic thrusts.

James stared into the crowd and tried to make out any signs of scarlet hair, but none were present. He watched with a bemused expression as Sirius chased Gracie around the dome, Gracie threatening to remove his balls with the heel of her shoe. It was also amusing to see girls glare jealously at Emma as a Hufflepuff asked her to dance (she politely declined).

About five minute later, James began to think that his Head Girl would never show up. He took off his black mask and sighed.

"Aren't you supposed to wear that?" Questioned a pristine voice from behind.

James was about to tell this person (whoever it was) to shove it, but then he recognized the voice and whipped around.

_Lily_.

It took several seconds for James to reassure himself that it WAS Lily.

And once he did, his heart stopped.

He wasn't imagining it. He had a real, live coronary as he took in the visually delicious sight that was Lily Evans.

If he thought she was beautiful before, then that was nothing compared to how he thought now.

He would have turned down London's hottest model for Lily.

There really was no word to describe her. Beautiful seemed only like a minor compliment compared to how she really looked.

She was bearing a pine green dress that seemed to accentuate every single luscious curve in her body that James had been dreaming of for two years now. Snug in all the right places, the gown stretched from the floor all the way up to her underarms. It was completely sleeveless, no straps or anything else, leaving Lily's pale, soft-looking flesh vulnerable to the biting cold outside the dome. James couldn't help but notice that the dress was low cut, revealing both cleavage and a tiny bit of soft breast protruding from the top of the dress. Lily's flaming red hair was curled and hanging down in loose tresses that looked almost like ribbons of evening sunlight. Her freckly face (which to James, looked more stunning than ever before) was decorated with a light layer of makeup and adorned with a mask identical to those of Gracie and Emma. She also wore white, elbow length gloves.

James couldn't breathe. It seemed as if this was his last moment on the face of the Earth, inching by as he took in Lily's appearance. His heart was clenching both painfully and wonderfully.

Now, his jaw DID drop.

He suddenly felt extremely hot and uncomfortable under his dress robes.

_I'll definitely have to thank Gracie and Emma for giving Lily a four hour makeover. _James thought, and his conscience agreed.

"Yeah yeah, I know I look atrocious." Lily said, shaking her head, "I should never have let my friends do this to me."

_Oh, if only I could tell you how good you really look. _

"You look great." James managed to rasp.

_You know that's an understatement, Potter._

"Be honest." Lily prompted.

_Is it possible to tell you what I honestly think without snogging you senseless?_

"I seriously think you look nice." James said sincerely, slightly blushing.

"Evans? You look hot!" Sirius yelled from across the dome, still attempting to get his hands on Gracie.

Lily rolled her luminous eyes, obviously satisfied with both James and Sirius' reactions. She turned to James, her expression suddenly stern. "Now put on your mask Head Boy, we have a ball to run."

"Yes ma'am." He said, following her and averting his eyes so he couldn't watch her swaying hips.

_Yes ma'am indeed. _

* * *

Gracie finally gave up running and whirled around.

"What do you want, Black?" She asked through gritted teeth.

"The same thing you are denying me, Gracie my love." Sirius said, running his hungry eyes over him slim frame before adding softly, "Can I help it that you are exceptionally beautiful?"

Though Gracie scoffed and pretended to gag, the lightest shade of pinks rose on her cheeks.

"We have a bigger problem than your never ending horniness, Black." The brunette said bluntly as she stared across the room.

Sirius followed her gaze across the dance floor to find James and Lily, talking amiably by the punch table.

With a sigh of defeat, Sirius ran a hand through his long hair. "We're going to have to get them together tonight, aren't we?"

"Yes." Gracie said, then with a grimace, "And if you're good and follow my instructions, you may get a reward."

Sirius' eyes went round with excitement as Gracie pulled him close and began to whisper in his ear.

* * *

At nine thirty, the ball was getting even more interesting. Or, at least that's how James saw it. About seven girls had asked him to dance already and (he wasn't very happy about this) about ten to fifteen boys had asked Lily to dance. He couldn't help but want to rip the heads off of the hopeful clouts that thought they were worthy enough to dance with Lily.

Hell, he wasn't even worthy of her, and he was James Potter for Christ's Sake!

"Jamesie, wanna dance?" Said a squeaky voice from behind him.

He turned.

Angie was standing there, in a pink dress that somehow reminded him of those cupcakes his mom made on Valentine's Day. There was WAY too much makeup on her face for his liking and her hair looked like it was cemented to look a certain way.

"Hey Angelina." He said, kissing her cheek lightly. "Let's dance."

With an iron grip, she led him to the dance floor. He really wasn't enjoying himself at all. Angie had him in a vice like hold and constantly kept trying to force her lips upon him (she still couldn't kiss him) and kept giggling shrilly.

"So where's your friend, what's her name, um, Ginger!?" Angie asked, her lips dripping with lip gloss.

"It's Lily. I don't know where she is." James said flatly, scanning the crowd.

When his eyes found Lily, his stomach nearly fell out of his body and onto the floor.

She was dancing with Sirius. His best friend. Was dancing with his girl.

_Wait a minute, she's not my girl._

_Is too. _

_She's my Head Girl, but not my girl._

_Whatever you say, Potter._

Lily and Sirius were in conversation, Sirius whispered something in her eat and she laughed. James felt his blood boil as Angie rattled on about something pointless. Sirius' arms were around the red-head's waist, yet Lily looked completely calm about it. Why was she dancing with him? She wasn't supposed to be dancing with anyone, that's just not what Lily did!

Suddenly, Gracie walked right up to him.

"May I cut in?" She asked with a devilish grin.

"Get lost, Harlow." Angie spat.

"Angie, just let her dance with me." James pleaded, letting go of his girlfriend and taking hold of Gracie's waist.

The blonde stomped off to the bathroom, probably to go apply more makeup.

Despite her reputation for hating any interaction with the opposite sex, Gracie seemed completely at ease.

James kept glancing over her shoulder at Lily and Sirius. A smirk covered the brunette's face.

"Jealous?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What?" James asked distractedly, still keeping a steely glance on his best friend(s).

"Of Sirius for getting to dance with Lily." She prompted.

James bit his lip in anger as Sirius dramatically dipped Lily, who let out a shout of laughter.

"A little. But only because Lily's my best friend and I want to look out for her."

"Okay." Gracie said, drawing out the word.

"She looks nice doesn't she?" Gracie asked a few seconds later, "Me and Em didn't do too bad a job on her, did we?"

"She looks too beautiful for words to describe." He said, not thinking about what particular thoughts he was voicing until he did. He looked down at Gracie, who was wearing a triumphant grin.

"Are you trying to make me say what goes through my head, Gracie?" James asked skeptically.

"Maybe. I'm just trying to find out if you are deeply in love with me as I am with you."

"WHAT?" James asked, ceasing their dance.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding." Gracie said with a rather boyish snort. "James, c'mon, you're a great guy, but you're not my type. We both know that."

"But of course, Sirius is your type, right?" James asked slyly.

"I don't have a type. And as attractive as Sirius is, it wouldn't work out." The brunette said defiantly, looking at the ceiling.

"If you don't tell me, I'll just assume." James warned, twirling her around.

"If you don't tell me, I'll assume and scheme to make something happen." She threatened back.

"Fair enough. I'll ask an indirect question and you answer it, and you ask one that I'll answer."

"Fine." She agreed.

"Have you, at any point in time, felt an inexplicable attraction to Sirius Black?" He asked, eying Lily from far away.

"Only once and I was wasted when it happened." She answered. "Have you, more than once, been tempted to ask Lily out again?"

James contemplated this question. "A couple times, but only when she is looking extremely attractive." He lied, trying to sound cocky and not caring. James knew very well that every possible minute he thought about asking out Lily Evans, but he would never admit it to himself.

Gracie's eyes widened. "You lying bastard." She said with a laugh. "You know very well you want nothing more than to marry her and snog her senseless."

And with that, Gracie walked away, only casting another knowing glance back at James before dissolving into the crowd.

On the other side of the room, Lily was nearly tearing with laughter at a joke that Sirius was telling her about the first time him and James went into the Forbidden Forest. She leaned her head on his shoulder as she steadied her breathing.

Then, she felt Sirius lips at her ear, whispering. "You know, I think James is nearly dying of jealousy over there."

Lily's head snapped up and she quickly glanced over at James, who was sitting on a chair with Angie, who was chatting away.

"Well, he doesn't need to be jealous; he knows you and I are friends. Besides, Gracie is your girl."

"Of course. But am I not allowed to enjoy a dance with an incredibly sexy red head?" Sirius asked, giving his most charming smile.

"Thank you. But you don't need to be so blunt." She said with a laugh.

"And DIP!" Sirius cried, tipping Lily back in a tango-like stance.

The red-head let out another shout of laughter. "Padfoot, I swear. If I wasn't in love with James, I would totally be crushing on you."

She froze, eyes widened and petrified looking. The smallest of smiles tugged at Sirius' lips.

"I didn't...I mean...that's not what I..." Lily spluttered, letting go of Sirius and tugging vivaciously at her gloves.

"It's okay Lils, I promise not to tell." Sirius swore, locking his lips shut.

After considering him for a moment, Lily leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "Thanks, Pads."

"Hey, just as long as I can be the best man at the wedding, I'm good." He said, shrugging.

Lily walked away to the ladies room, not even aware that a pair of hazel eyes were following her the whole way.

* * *

At ten 'o clock, the students gathered around the stage, the girls on one side and the guys on the other. Lily and James stood on the back of the stage, conversing.

"Ready for this?" James said, looking earnestly into her eyes.

"Of course." She said.

Suddenly, a giant black board above the stage began to alight with names. Moans of disappointment and yells of delight filled the room as the students reacted.

James scanned the girl's column and their matches.

**Grace Harlow-Sirius Black**

**Emmeline Vance-Remus Lupin**

**Angelina White- Peter Pettigrew**

**Lily Evans- James Potter**

Lily saw her name next to James' and gulped loudly, her stomach clenching and un-clenching.

She knew James wouldn't want to dance. He'd want to dance with Angie, despite the fact that Angie was (rather hilariously) paired with Peter.

But then, James extended a hand gently. "Shall we dance, my lady?"

She took his hand in hers and together, they walked to the center of the dance floor. Lily couldn't help but feel like a princess in a Fairytale. Couples began to form around them, including Gracie and Sirius, Remus and Emma and Angie and Peter.

The softest combination of piano and harp began playing, revealing a sweet melody to dance to. Without a cue, James gathered Lily into his arms, their two bodies pressing against one another's.

Gently, he placed his arms around her waist, and was amazed that it almost felt like they were meant to be there. A perfect fit.

Lily put her arms loosely around his shoulders, refraining from pulling him any closer than he already was.

The lights dimmed and suddenly, it seemed as if the whole sky was before them, stars twinkling and half moon shining. Lily's eyes widened.

"Did you plan this?" She asked, nodding at the open sky.

"Possibly." He said, as they began to sway to the music.

"Well, I'd say you have outdone yourself this time." She said, looking around them.

"I'm sorry you didn't get matched up with Angie." Lily said apologetically, glancing over at the life-sized Barbie doll ten feet away from them.

"It's alright." James said. "Besides, I think she is having a blast dancing with Wormtail."

At the sight of Angie towering uncomfortably over small little Peter, both Head boy and girl burst into silent fits of laughter as they continued to dance.

"Hey, look. Gracie and Sirius are actually getting along." James pointed out.

Lily was surprised to find both Sirius and Gracie looking at each other oddly. Gracie looked like she wasn't sure whether to kick his arse or just go with the moment and dance.

"Oh, and James?" Lily asked as they faced each other once more.

"Yeah?"

"This dome idea was brilliant. I'm glad I agreed with you to do this." She complimented.

James looked absentmindedly at a freckle on Lily's left cheek.

"I'm glad it pleased you." He said quietly.

She blinked, finding it harder to process rational thoughts in her head.

"So, do you think our work here is done?" James asked with a small smile.

"Yeah. Almost. I think it would be a little better if we received a little gift from either the Marauders or Marauderesses." She replied coyly; glad to have something to focus on.

"Well, the Marauders, I can guarantee will visit. However, as for the Marauderesses, I can't say."

"I can." Lily said. "I owled them and asked if they could drop by. We'll just have to wait and see if they reply."

Her eyes were alight with mischievous knowing and James wanted so much to stare into them forever. He slowly moved forward and brought his cheek to hers, enjoying her soft skin on his. Her eyes widened a small fraction.

"James?" She murmured after about thirty seconds, losing all sense of feeling and intelligent thinking.

"Mmm?" He asked as the song slowed down gently.

"I'm glad I could share this dance with you. I mean, I know there's a dozen girls in here who are more prettier than me that would like to dance with you, but I--I just wanted to let you know that it means a lot that you're dancing with me.. More than you know." She said quietly, so only he could hear.

He pulled back to see her face again. In a way she still looked like the little eleven year old girl who he used to blow spitballs at in class. Innocent and pure.

"You know," He began, bringing up a shaky hand to tuck an auburn curl back behind her ear, "You are the most beautiful girl in the room right now, and I'm not saying that because you're my best friend, but I am saying it because its true."

Like molten pools of emeralds, Lily's eyes danced with happiness and she blushed lightly.

"Really?" She asked, her voice no more than a whisper.

James found his breath caught in his throat. He no longer could find the will to speak. He could only look at her, drinking in every detail. She was so near. Her natural scent of vanilla and mint drove him over the edge, nearly intoxicating him. He was drowning in her. Drowning in the pools of green framed by that white sequined mask.

Lily found him staring at her with an insane amount of intensity. It almost frightened her.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked, even quieter than before.

Her lips were so close. A plush rose on the peak of her face that James was so longing to caress.

He leaned in and she looked up, their faces mere centimeters apart.

Lily's eyes slipped shut, her mind fogging and leading her towards an eternal bliss.

BLAM.

A noise like an earthquake shattered the peaceful atmosphere like a brick in a glass window. Everywhere, all around the room, the decorative balloons were bursting like wildfire, peppering every student with an array of sequins, confetti and rice.

James looked down and found that Lily was no longer in his arms. He looked around wildly, but she just wasn't there. He found a small index card on the floor near one of the just exploded balloons. He read the swirly writing with a smile.

_Courtesy of the Marauderesses_

He walked to the door as students cheered as more and more balloons exploded, some even emitting fireworks. He caught sight of Sirius passing around a tray and saying, "Special brownies? Anyone care for a brownie? Gift from the Marauders!"

James had an odd feeling about those brownies, but ignored his urge to try one and sat down with a sigh. The students continued to dance (the band had struck up another song) and James looked blandly over the crowd.

Someone came and sat next to him, but he didn't care who it was.

"She had to get away. It was too much for her." Emma said softly, removing her mask.

"Who, Lily? I'm sure she just needed a pit stop." James said jokingly, ruffling his hair.

Emma searched him with her violet eyes.

"You shouldn't doubt other people's feelings about you." She said gently.

James looked up to ask her what she meant by that but she was already walking away.

Sirius bounded over and shoved a brownie into James' hand.

"Courtesy of the Marauders." Sirius said with a wink.

James walked out of the dome as quickly as possible, needing to breathe the cold, sharp air outside.

He sat down next to the beech tree and took a bite of the brownie, staring moodily over the glassy lake. The brownie tasted odd, numbing in a way.

_I blew it._

_Yes, you did Potter._

_I can't help it; Lily is just so freaking stunning!_

_There's a way to get rid of all this sexual tension, my friend._

_How?_

_Ask her out._

_She'd hate me. We're just friends. I wouldn't trade our friendship for the world. _

He took another bite of brownie, knowing something must have been in it.

He new that his feelings for Lily were only those of mere attraction. It was nothing major. Lily said so herself a couple years ago, he just liked her and nothing more.

"I love Lily Evans."

He said it before he even thought about saying it. James slapped his hands over his mouth as he repeated the phrase.

"Truth potion in brownies. Damn you Sirius." He cursed under his breath.

He said it in a whisper. "I love Lily Evans."

He said it over and over, loving the taste of it on his tongue.

He smiled like he hadn't smiled in years.

True, he was in love with a girl that he could never confess to.

But it was worth it to be able to admit it to himself.

It truly was.

* * *

Lily leaned her head against her bed post in the Head's dorms, a small tear escaping beneath her closed eyelids.

"I love you James Potter." She whispered to the empty room, giving a small chuckle as she took her heels off.

"If only you knew." She said sadly, lying down on her bed.

* * *

James walked up to his dorm to find it covered in confetti and sequins as if several balloons had exploded in it.

A note was on his side table drawer.

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_Thank you for allowing us to prank during your ball._

_Yours most sincerely,_

_Midnight, Freckles and Frown_

But the thing that bothered James the most was not the note or the mess in his room.

No, he was only bothered when he found that every single sequin scattered on the floor was white.

* * *

**A/N: REVIEW & VOTE**

**On second thought, just review if you don't want to vote. That lovely button is calling your name. Click it!**


	12. Kristmas & Kisses

**A/N: Please read and review. There are no pranks in this chapter, please forgive me.**

* * *

He was standing in the Head's common room, with nothing but boxers on. He looked around, not exactly sure why he was standing there. He noted dully that his boxers had broken hearts all over them.

Suddenly, a pair of soft, warm arms wrapped around his bare stomach.

He turned around, his jaw nearly hitting the floor when he saw that it was Lily who had embraced him.

She was standing in front of him, dressed in a skimpy looking lingerie dress with a Santa hat on her head. The negligee was short and see through around her mid-drift. He gasped and sighed hungrily as she stepped towards him, pressing her soft body against him.

"Happy Christmas, Lover Boy." She whispered, pushing him down onto the couch.

He lay back as she walked closer and closer, leveling him with a sultry gaze. She reached for him and he reached back, their lips about to touch...

WHAM!

"James! Wake up! It's Christmas!" Someone shouted, a pillow hitting his head.

Groggily, and quite unwillingly, James Potter opened his eyes to find a certain red-head straddling his lap, her legs on either side of his stomach as she pinned him down to the bed, pillow raised in hand. This Lily, unlike the one in his dream, was fully clad in pajama bottoms and a tank-top and bearing a feisty expression instead of one of seductiveness.

"Aw, I was having a good dream." James whined, closing his eyes and shivering at the thought of it. "What time is it anyway?"

"Four in the morning." Lily replied in a sing-song voice, hitting him with the pillow again when he closed his eyes. "And I assure you that no dream can be better than Christmas presents.

James couldn't help but laugh quietly. "Trust me, it can." He glanced warily at her, noting that her body was STILL straddling him.

Lily put the pillow down and leaned in until she was very close, almost too close, to James.

"Happy Christmas, Prongs." She said lightly.

He considered her for a minute, before sitting up, grabbing his own pillow and hitting her over the head with it. Then, like a baby in a cradle, he picked her up and carried her to the doorway and said back, "Happy Christmas to you too, Lils."

After setting her down, James shouted, "Race you to the presents!"

With a yell, both took off, feet all tangled on the stairs as they nearly tripped and fell several times. Together. Seconds later, they tumbled rather unceremoniously into the common room.

"I WON!" James nearly screamed at the top of his breathless lungs.

"No, I won!" Protested Lily, smacking him in the shoulder.

In retaliation, he tackled her down onto the couch, sitting on and tickling her as she squealed and writhed under him.

"Hey! HEY!' Gracie shouted as Lily fought to tickle James back. "Are you two five-year-olds done yet?"

The two looked up from the couch and ran towards rug excitedly, all tickle fights forgotten as they caught sight of the piles and piles of presents. And seeing as Gracie, Emma, Lily, James, Remus, Peter and Sirius were the only Gryffindors that decided to stay for Christmas, having that many presents was saying quite a lot.

"The first person to unwrap all their presents wins!" Sirius crowed, as both the Marauders and Marauderesses dug viciously into the pile of presents. Cries of surprise came from all seven of the Pranksters as paper littered the floor like raindrops falling from the sky.

A half an hour later, the floor lay covered with tissue paper, boxes, bags, and bows. Most of the friends were marveling at their gifts, though Peter had already fallen asleep under the mountains of wrapping paper.

James, who was half way through his box of IQ advancing chocolates that Remus had given him, realized that there was no present among his pile from Lily. Then again, he hadn't given her anything.

"James, where is my present?" Lily asked with a pout, not really expecting anything.

"I might ask the same of you, Miss Evans." He responded with a sly smile, thinking of the small silver wrapped box sitting in his trunk upstairs.

"Ah, you know me, I like to wait for the right er...moment." Lily said, standing up on her tip-toes to seem taller as he crossed the room over to her.

"Like...say...after dinner?" James offered.

"As long as no one is around." Lily said in a half whisper. "I don't want people to think I actually get along with you or anything!"

Suddenly, a letter popped up on the top of Lily's head, labeled To the Marauders. James took it from her head and opened it.

"Hey guys, I think you better come over to hear this." He called over his shoulder, signaling the coming of the rest of their friends.

They all sat down on the couch as James began to read.

Dear Marauders,

Happy Christmas to you all. We thought you would like a break from all this tiresome pranking, seeing as its obviously showing on the scoreboard. I mean, we are leading by ten points after all. Anyways, we wanted to call a truce for the remainder of the holidays, seeing as hardly anyone will be around to witness the pranks and we are with our families at this current point in time. But don't expect us to go easy on you, Loony, Wormbrains, DungFoot and Prat.

Happy Christmas,

Midnight, Freckles and Frown

James looked up from the letter, red-faced and seething.

"How do they do that?!" He exploded, throwing the letter angrily into the fireplace. "How can they come off as so witty and calm, when they are only a group of meddling, stalker, teenage girls?"

Loony Wormbrains and Dungfoot seemed to be thinking around the same lines. In a matter of seconds, they all started yelling furiously and cursing the 'Evil vixens that have tortured us'.

"I think they're bluffing." Gracie said, flicking a crumb of chocolate off her arm. "I don't think mere girls could have come up with those brilliant nicknames themselves.

"What, Midnight, Freckles and Frown?" Sirius asked.

"No," the brunette replied coolly, "Loony, Wormbrains, Dungfoot and Prat. That was freaking GENIUS."

The boys glared at Gracie as she laughed herself silly, but Emma put on a face of mock concern.

"I don't know, you guys better think of something good, or they just might win." She said, casting her violet eyes over the group with a look of worry.

"Well, what can we do?" Sirius asked sarcastically, leaning over Gracie's lap with a feminine sigh, "We're trying our hardest but it just isn't good enough!"

Gracie looked down at Sirius, still stretched across her lap. "Move it or lose it." She growled, reaching in her pocket for her wand.

Sirius promptly moved off, but not before adding, "You know you want me, Grace Harlow."

Rolling his eyes, Remus said, "We should probably go up to the dorm and write them a letter. The Christmas Feast starts in about two hours. We'll be ready to go by then."

The four boys walked up the dorm, James looking rather reluctant to do so.

Lily turned slowly to her friends, who were looking rather sheepish.

"Loony, WormBrains, DungFoot and Prat?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I felt a creative spark." Gracie defended, raising her hands with a shrug.

"I must admit that was freaking funny." Emma said, a grin spreading across her face.

"But dangerous. If they send the reply and we get it while in their presence, our cover will be blown." Lily said warningly, though she was smiling as well.

"Cover, schmover." Gracie said airily, "To see the bewildered anger on their faces...priceless."

"You wanna go have a snowball fight?" Lily asked, staring at the rug.

"We can't. There's a giant snow storm going on out there." Emma pointed out, glancing toward the window.

Lily heard the distant howling of the wind and realized she had been hearing that sound all night. "Oh well," She sighed, "I guess we'll have to make the most of indoors today."

"That shouldn't be hard for us, you know." Emma replied. "We happen to be some of the greatest pranksters with one of the greatest secrets in this castle. I'm sure we can find SOMETHING to do."

"We've already got the pranks planned for when school starts again." Lily explained. "I've got all the notes and supplies upstairs in my trunk."

"As well as your present for Jamesie." Gracie said slyly, winking at Emma.

Lily looked staggered for a few minutes, but then shook her head and said sharply, "That's none of your business."

"We're your best girl friends; of course it's our business." Emma said dully, fingering one of her presents with mild curiosity.

Lily looked down. She felt bad for spending so much time with James and not her friends. Sure, they planned pranks and laughed about it later, but she knew they were being extremely patient with her on the James-factor.

"Okay, so, you have to teach us how to work these things." Gracie said, her brown eyes trained on a small yo-yo that James had bought her.

"You've never used a yo-yo?" Lily asked, looking rather pleased that her friends had changed the subject.

"I'm a pure blood witch. I don't tamper with such." Gracie said with a sniff, mocking a Slytherin with off precision.

Lily grinned and took the yo-yo from her friend's hand.

* * *

"Checkmate." James said, folding his arms over his chest in satisfaction.

"WHAT!? That's not fair!" Lily yelled, her eyes running over the chess board as James' queen crushed her king into bit and pieces.

"Tis fair, Miss Lily." Sirius said with a sigh as he inched closer to Gracie, who was seated on the rug reading a book.

"But two moves ago, I had you practically cornered!" Lily half-shouted exasperatedly, wringing her hands as she tried to figure out what she did wrong to lose.

"Your left side was defenseless, and I had my king well guarded. It's more about the defense than offense, Lils." James explained, looking sad that he had to beat her.

"That's not true. Offense is so much more important." Lily argued.

"I have to agree with red-head on this one." Sirius said lazily, reaching around Gracie and taking the book from her hands.

"Give it back!" The brunette yelled, slugging her attacker in the shoulder.

"If you want it back, you'll have to go on a date with me." Sirius said, standing and dangling the book just out of Gracie's reach.

"Not on my life!" She shouted in his face, much to the amusement of her friends.

"Just one date. How bad can it be?" Sirius asked.

Gracie stopped struggling for the book and considered her interrogator for a moment before standing up and punching him in the stomach with all the strength she could possibly muster. Sirius doubled over with a grunt of pain and Gracie snatched the book from his hands before going over to her own secluded couch across the room.

Remus walked over and helped Sirius up. "You know DungFoot, you always seem to make the stupidest decisions round Gracie."

"Well Loony, I try." Sirius spat back, wincing as he sat down.

Lily leaned over and said, "If he keeps harassing Gracie at this rate, he'll be dying of internal bleeding by age twenty."

James had to hold back a laugh to prevent a furious glare from Sirius and Gracie.

"You wanna play another game, Lils?" James asked, cleaning up the chess board.

"Actually, I need to go to the Owelry and write a letter to the family wishing them all a happy Christmas. I'll be right back." She said, walking out of the common room.

James looked wistfully at the portrait hole and suddenly all his friends rounded on him.

"WHAT ARE YOU GETTING HER FOR CHRISTMAS?!" They all asked simultaneously.

James winced, "I can't tell you."

"Is it something nice and hot, like lingerie?" Sirius asked, looking rather hopeful.

"No."

"Is it something overly girly? Perfume? Lily hates perfume." Gracie explained with a look of distaste.

"And I hope it's not a book." Remus said with a groan. "Lily's got way too many of those."

They continued to chatter until James shouted, "I didn't get her any of that stuff!"

"Well, what did you get her?" Emma asked, her purple eyes shining with curiosity.

"Why does it matter?" He asked incredulously.

"Because you're in love with Lily. And she's in love with you. You don't want to send the wrong message." Remus said calmly, shaking his sandy hair.

James sat there, his mouth moving up and down like a fish. "What are you talking about?" He managed to rasp, looking at all of his friends (minus Lily).

"Oh, come now." Emma said, walking forward to sit next to Remus. "It's not like you're trying to hide it. You couldn't keep your eyes off her at the Ball, and you spend almost every spare minute with her. We did THAT math easily enough, James."

James felt winded and incredibly tired all of a sudden. "You can't say anything to her." He said quietly, excepting his defeat.

"Fine. But I hope your gift to her will be appropriate, for your sake." Gracie said, glaring at James.

"James," Began Remus in an uneasy tone, "Have you ever considered that she might like you, or even love you, back?"

"No, I haven't." James snapped, feeling very defensive all of a sudden. "Because it's not possible. Lily and I will never be anything more than just friends."

Remus opened his mouth to counter that, but the Lily walked back into the common room, humming Christmas Carols. "What's going on?" She asked, sitting back down next to James.

"Nothing." James muttered darkly, placing a smile on his face as he looked down at Lily. "When's the feast?"

"Actually, it's starting in fifteen minutes." Lily said, glancing at the clock. "Do you guys wanna go down?"

The group left the common room, James taking up the rear as he brooded with his tortured thoughts.

* * *

"Okay, you have to give me my present now!" Lily whined, bouncing on her toes eagerly as she clutched James' present behind her back.

"You first!" He said back, laughing quietly.

It was about eight 'o clock, the rest of the Marauders and Marauderesses had gone upstairs to bed (worn out from the excitement of the day), and Lily and James were about to exchange their presents.

"Alright." Lily said with a rolling of her eyes, "Here's your present." She thrust forward a soft package, neatly wrapped in green paper.

James grabbed it and ripped it open, feeling slightly guilty for destroying such expert wrapping.

"It's a scarf!" He cried, smiling as a silvery veil of blue and green fell to the floor.

"It's not just a regular scarf." Lily explained, picking it up and holding it at arms length, "Wherever you are, no matter how cold it is, this scarf will you keep you warm."

James put it around his neck lightly and sure enough, warmth began to spread from the tips of his toes to his head. He grinned widely at Lily before handing her a small box wrapped in silver.

Lily scrutinized the box, before asking, "Who taught you to wrap presents?"

James looked rather pouty as he murmured, "I taught myself."

The red head shook with silent laughter as she took the gift from him. "It's fine. I was just trying to figure out why it looked like a four year old wrapped this thing."

She tugged lightly at the edges of the paper and tore it off in one sweep of her hand. Gently, almost shyly, she lifted the lid off the box and gasped. It was a silver necklace, a small chain with a single pendant in the center. Shaped like a flower. As Lily reached back to put it on, the pendant rapidly changed colors as it touched her skin.

"It works like one of those muggle mood rings." James explained. "Only it's genuine. This way, you'll always know how you feel about something, even if you can't figure it out for yourself."

Lily looked at James for a minute before throwing her arms around his neck and squeezing him to death. "Oh, thank you so much James!" She whispered in his ear.

"No problem." He whispered back, hugging her with just as much enthusiasm.

* * *

Over the next week or so, the Marauders and Marauderesses spent almost all their time in each other's company. It was almost as if they were their own group, instead of two separate ones. Most days were spent lounging in the common room with extreme tournaments of Gobstones, Wizard's Chess, and Exploding Snap. But they were only extreme because of Sirius blowing spitballs at everybody while they tried to concentrate.

On the 29th of December, it stopped snowing, and the friends were up and out in the wintery wonderland first thing in the morning, practically swimming in snow. They had been in the middle of a snow man making contest, when all of the sudden, Sirius shoved some snow down Gracie's shirt as a means of asking her out. She responded with a screech and promptly pelted him with a huge snowball in the face, calling him obscenities and hitting him repeatedly on the head. It didn't take long after that for a full frontal snow ball WAR to take place; girls vs. boys.

The rest of the week was spent outdoors, both in the snow and on the lake, ice skating. But the ice fun ended when Gracie punched Sirius so hard he fell through the ice into the freezing cold water.

Snow days had ceased after Sirius spent the night in the hospital wing, having to receive a vial of Pepper-Up potion every hour. But even as he sneezed and shivered, Sirius said that falling through the ice was totally worth getting to pinch Gracie's arse.

They had automatically decided to throw a New Year's Eve bash, just because it was their last New Year's at school and they were the only seventh years in the House.

The Marauders had gone all out, despite the pleas of the Head Girl, bringing candy, Fire-Whiskey, food and even a bunch of indoor fireworks that combusted at random time slots.

At about ten 'o clock on the Eve of 1978, the seven friends sat in a circle, laughing and throwing bits of jelly bean at one another. It must have been well into the party, seeing as Sirius was already starting to sway back and forth as he sat. Gracie took care to stay far away from the liquor, whether she wanted to or not.

"Okay! We have to have a contest! Something muggle!" James shouted, bouncing in his seat.

Lily thought for a moment, back to what she and Petunia use to compete for when they were littler. "What about an arm wrestling contest?"

"PERFECT!" Gracie yelled. "Who wants to play me!?"

With somewhat of a swagger, James stood up and-- cracking his knuckles-- said, "This should be as easy as pie."

With a grim smile, Gracie set her right elbow on the table and held her hand out, winking when James took it and sat down as well.

"Ready?" Remus asked, eyeing both contestants. "Set...go!"

Silence filled the room as all attention was brought to Gracie and James. Neither had even moved an inch, but it was clear that a struggle was ensuing. James winced as the brunette clutched his hand even harder than usual.

A minute later, James hand smacked down on the table, Gracie's covering it.

James flexed his hand with a grimace, completely bewildered that a pixie-like GIRL had just beaten him in a battle of testosterone strength.

Gracie smiled, looking absolutely smug. "Who's next?"

Over the next half hour, most of the friends had tried and failed to beat Gracie at arm wrestling. Somehow, she had managed to obtain an uncanny amount of arm strength. Lily and Emma both agreed that her arms were strong only because she got practice swinging at Sirius' jaw every couple hours.

Over the next thirty minutes, the friends lounged around the common room, playing odd muggle games with twists. So far they had come up with extreme hide and seek (the extreme part being the fact that if you were found you had to duel the one who found you) and hex tag.

Finally, after running and screaming themselves hoarse, the girls all sat down. Gracie was actually bouncy though, high on an energy that had her fellow Marauderesses bewildered.

The brunette suddenly stopped bouncing, turning to face Sirius with an odd expression.

"I didn't arm wrestle you, you know." She said, raising an eyebrow as a challenge.

Sirius scoffed and shook his head. "I'm not going to waste my time. There's nothing in it for me."

Gracie considered him for a moment, as if being both hesitant and eager to compete with Sirius. She finally sighed and said quietly, "Name the stakes."

Sirius suddenly jumped up from his seat, filled with identical energy to Gracie's.

"If you win," he started, obviously thinking it wasn't going to happen, "I'll leave you alone for as long as you want me to." He paused, adding more dramatic affect as he friends all leaned in to listen, "But if I win, you have to kiss me."

Gracie's grin froze and her confidence visibly faltered as she realized her life's work was at stake.

"Forget it." She said icily, turning away to walk up to the dorm.

"What, are you afraid?" Sirius tried, knowing that it would get her attention.

Gracie stopped at the foot of the stairs, her expression uneasy and unsure and she pondered her options. Lily knew her friend was in a dangerous situation.

"No. Let's do it." Gracie said steadily, walking over to sit, her face an impassive mask.

Emma's face twisted into a smile as Gracie and Sirius took hands and leaned forward, setting their elbows on the table.

James decided to start the game this time. "Ready, set, and GO!"

Unlike all of the other rounds of arm wrestling, neither player showed the slightest means of struggle. Sirius' laughing grey eyes locked with Gracie's brown ones.

Then, gradually, their fists began to move to the right of the table, and the brunette's eyes widened in a panic as a smirk crossed her opponent's face. She drove him back, a look of determination firmly set as Sirius' cocky appearance cracked just a bit.

Then, too quick for anyone to truly understand, Sirius slammed Gracie's fist down, letting out a short bark of laughter as her smirk was replaced with a open mouthed amount of shock.

The Marauders burst into cheers and whoops, while Lily and Emma groaned with defeat, feeling as if THEY were the ones who had lost.

As Sirius was slapped on the back and yelled at, Gracie tried to slip away up to the dorm.

"Ah, ah ahhh." Sirius said grabbing her wrist and wheeling her along. "I believe you owe me a kiss."

"I will only kiss you if it'll save a life." Gracie sneered, struggling to pull away from her captor. "And since it's only making MY life worse, I'd rather not."

Lily gave James a warning glance, communicating that if Sirius kept pushing Gracie, the brunette would surely kill him. The audience of the arm wrestling champ and his just beaten opponent stayed silent anyways.

Gracie's eyes were wide, but not threatening as she stared at Sirius. They were merely inches apart. She seemed to be trying to calculate the biggest math equation inside her head.

Then, as suddenly as it ever could be, Gracie --quite slowly and shyly-- reached forward, taking Sirius' face in her small pale hands before brushing her lips against his. The kiss was so light that some people-- if more people had been there-- might have questioned whether or not it happened.

Absolute silence filled the air, both anticipated and shocked. Lily didn't know what to say as she tried to gauge Gracie's reaction to the kiss.

"Happy now?" The brunette asked, letting go and walking up to her dorm.

Sirius reached up and touched his lips, looking both confused and elated. He gripped his head with sudden anger and muttered, "Shit." before stomping up to his dorm.

As soon as they were both gone, James let out a low whistle, while Emma whispered, "Wow."

Lily nodded, wow was right.

* * *

"I mean, it's so obvious they're in love with each other, but how on earth are we going to get them to admit it to each other?" Emma asked, narrowing her eyes over at Lily and James across the room as they played a game of Gobstones.

"But how do you get them to admit it?" Remus asked, taking a small sip of his butter-beer. "James can be as stubborn as a mule when necessary and Lily is exactly the same."

Emma ran a hair through her onyx tresses, "There has to be a way. Everyone has a weakness."

"But that's just the problem." Remus said, his amber eyes flashing, "They are each other's weaknesses."

Emma huffed and laid her chin on her palm, thinking hard. "The broom cupboard idea obviously didn't work. We could try to make Lily jealous, but James has already got Angie for that."

"We could try to make James jealous. I mean, you SAW the way he nearly lost it when Sirius was dancing with Lily at the ball."

James crowed in triumph and Lily hit him as they finished a game and started another. Emma shook her head and said, "Lily has her no dating rule. But it wouldn't even take a boyfriend to get James jealous, Remus. All you have to do is give Lily another guy friend and James will be driven nuts."

"What are you suggesting?" Remus asked, tipping his head to the side and smiling at Emma.

"I'm suggesting that we make a schedule to keep Lily constantly busy and away from James. We can get her kids to tutor, you and Sirius and ask her to help you with homework. Soon, James will crack and tell Lily he's crazy about her and they will all live happily ever after." Emma confirmed, leaning back on the sofa.

"Well, when do you suggest we make this schedule?"

"I don't know."

"Well, why don't you and I talk it over a mug of butter beer and Hogsmeade the next visit?" Remus offered.

Emma froze, her eyes dancing with both excitement and hesitation. "Like a date?" She asked, raising her eyes to her companion.

"Only if you want it to be." Remus said, shrugging, despite the slight crack in his voice.

"Sure, why not." Emma replied, rolling her eyes as James yelled 'I WON AGAIN!' at the top of his lungs.

"Cool." Remus said, feeling slightly awkward.

"So, um...I-I'm going to bed. I need some sleep. Happy Almost New Year's." Emma waved, standing up and running to her dorm as her face gradually faded to crimson.

Remus sighed happily once she vanished and after bidding goodbye to Lily and James, walked up to his dorm, whistling 'Jingle Bells' under his breath. He decided to leave Peter where he was, sleeping under the Christmas tree.

"James!" Lily cried, clutching her Head Boy's arm and giggling. "Hurry! It's eleven fifty five! We need to go to the clock tower to celebrate New Years!"

The red head felt oddly giddy, despite the fact that she hadn't had a single mouthful of alcohol. She just told herself she was 'high on life' and enjoying ever second of it.

"Alright Lilykins! Jump on my back, and I will fly you to thine clock tower!" James cried, jumping up with just as much random hyper energy.

With a high pitched cackle, Lily jumped on James back, ignoring his comments on her so called 'Fatness'.

He galloped out of the common room, ignoring the warning shouts of the Portraits on their 'outlandish behavior'.

"Okay! James, stop, stop!" Lily pleaded, clutching her sides as she laughed hysterically when James let her off.

Together they looked above them, gaping at the huge clock tower about 100 feet above them. The big hand was on the twelve and the little hand was about a few inches to the left of it.

"It's so big." Lily whispered, giggling shrilly.

"Yeah." James said, scratching the back of his neck as he looked up at it.

"Let's count it down. The last ten seconds." Lily said, as the second hand drew closer to the top of the clock.

"Okay. Ten." James started.

"Nine." Lily replied, nearly screaming with excitement.

"Eight."

"Seven."

"Six."

"Five."

"Four."

"Three."

"Two.

"One!"

GONG!

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" They both screamed at the top of their lungs, jumping up and down and hugging each other.

It probably looked rather conspicuous, the Head Girl and Boy dancing around and screaming in the empty corridor, but they didn't care.

Lily collapsed on the ground, shaking with laughter that she didn't know she had in her. She looked up at James once the giggling had resided, reaching for him as he yanked her up to his level.

"I'm going to bed now." Lily said, stifling a yawn, "I'm suddenly extremely tired."

James smiled down at Lily and lifted her into his arms, trying to control the random spasms of his heart when she leaned against his shoulder with a sigh.

She was already asleep by the time they got to the common room. With a chuckle, James set her down on the couch, supporting the back of her head as he laid her down. When her eyes snapped open, he froze. She stared at him for a moment, and then glanced around the room, probably trying to figure out where the hell she was.

"Goodnight Lily." James whispered, standing up to walk away.

"NO!" She whispered, suddenly frantic. "Don't leave me."

James watched her for a moment, trying to figure out if she was acting on a sleep-walking impulse or not. With a shrug, he lay down next to her and she cuddled into his chest.

"You're lucky this couch fits the both of us, James." Lily yawned, temporarily closing her eyes.

"I'm sure I am." He replied, surprised to find he was just as tired as her.

Suddenly, she leaned up to him, pressing her soft, warm lips to his cheek.

"Happy New Year." She sighed before closing her eyes again.

James blinked lazily before kissing the top of her head.

"Happy New Year." He whispered back, before giving in to the gentle lull of rest.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, well, I hope you don't kill me for that one. Hopefully you got your daily dose of L/J for now. Please review, and forgive me for the lack of pranks. But it was Christmas, after all.**


	13. Tshirts & Tamarins

"T-shirts! Support your very own chivalrous Marauders by purchasing an authentic t-shirt!" Sirius called, running from passing student to passing student. "All proceeds support the rightful winners of the prankwar! Only three galleons each!"

Many of the young adult crowd in the corridor was gathered around a small round table where James and Remus sat, holding up t-shirts with cheesy smiles.

"Yes, that's only three galleons ladies and gents." James assured, eyes alight with a childish thrill as he worked the bystanders. "Only for a limited time. And if you promise to vote for us every chance you get, you can get two sickles taken off those three galleons. Guys and gals, we have a real live bargain here!"

Several people rushed forwards, fishing for spare change in their pockets.

"How are we doing?" James asked out of the corner of his mouth, his glasses sliding down his nose slightly as he leaned towards Remus, who was intent on counting the money.

"We're up about twenty one galleons within the last ten minutes." The sandy haired boy muttered back.

"Not bad, not bad." James replied with a serious nod, taking one Hufflepuff's three galleons and handing them a t-shirt in turn. "How's our stock doing?"

"We've got about nineteen shirts left, but I'm sure that'll last us until the end of free period."

Sirius ran up and whispered under the table, "Hey Wormtail, give me five more shirts. They're selling like mad and I'm sweating like a pig."

James grimaced and said, "I'm sure you're thrilled by that fact. Padfoot, But who gave you the idea of pinning your hair back with flowered barrettes to keep it out of your face?"

Out of thin air, a much dreaded blond appeared. "I did, silly billy!" Angie squealed, ruffling James' hair with a giggle. "You MUST know he can't possibly see merchandise with THAT shaggy hair, don't you?"

James nodded dumbly, tuning his girlfriend out completely and shouting, "Support the Marauders and buy a t-shirt, only three galleons!"

Sirius, who had been scanning the crowd looking for more innocent first years to sell the shirts to, brightened up upon seeing someone shove their way through the crowd.

Well, three some ones, but he only seemed to notice the brunette.

Gracie scrunched up her nose; a habit practiced often around Sirius. "Peddling off to all-too-innocent students again, Black? That's a whole new level of pathetic, even for you."

Despite the pure ice layered in the comment, Sirius grinned. He had gotten rather used to the more intense Grace Harlow that had appeared shortly after the New Year's Eve incident.

"Ah, Harlow, always the charmer. I would normally add an extra five sickles to the shirt t-shirt for that but, because you and your friends are looking extremely sexy today, I'll let you by with a simple warning." Sirius said lightly, winking at the three girls.

"Ugh," Groaned Lily distastefully, holding up a grey t-shirt flashing 'I VOTED PRO-MARAUDER' in neon lights repeatedly, "Who designed these pieces of rubbish?"

"That would be me!" Piped up a rather affronted Peter, glaring at the red-head from under the table.

James shook his head while Sirius snatched the t-shirt away from Lily's hands with a sneer. "Of course you won't like THAT one, you silly nit. That's the men's shirt." He handed Emma another one. "THIS is the women's style."

All three girls did not even make an attempt at straight faces as they glanced at the pink shirt flashing, "I LOVE MOONY' in neon blue.

"We also have this in Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs." Sirius added, clasping his hands like a business man closing a deal.

Emma blurted out, "Excuse me, but why would we bother to waste our money on THESE?"

"Because they make your bust look big and your waist look slim." Sirius argued heatedly, nudging Remus with a devilish smile.

Gracie, who had been giving the grey eyed Marauder a look of extreme distaste, suddenly reached forward and touched a lock of Sirius' pinned back hair. "Trying to get in touch with our feminine side, are we Black? It suits you." She said, smirking as Sirius flushed in sudden embarrassment.

"It was my idea!" Angie blurted, popping out of nowhere once more and latching onto James like a parasite. "Doesn't he look great?"

With a small giggle, Gracie gave a twisted smile of malice and pleasure and said, "Really, he looks absolutely GORGEOUS."

Sirius replied, "Well, only you would notice such a small detail, Grace-my-love. I mean honestly, how long were you staring at me before you actually even saw the barrettes, hmm?"

With a narrow of her brown eyes, Gracie calmly flipped him off.

"As I said, always the charmer, Grae." Sirius smiled cheekily, running off to sell more t-shirts before Gracie could bash his head in.

* * *

Lily felt a weight on her chest. It wasn't too heavy, but heavy enough for her to notice.

Without a second thought she began to drift back to sleep.

Something was tickling her nose.

"Go away, James." She groaned, trying to roll over and stuff her head under her pillow.

The tickling started again and Lily opened her eyes groggily.

And then screamed.

"What the hell is going on?" Gracie yelled from her four poster.

Catching her breathe, shoving the thing off her chest, and gasping as it bounded away, Lily answered, "There was a...a monkey in my bed!"

"Get out!" Gracie said in disbelief, ripping Lily's curtains open with an excited expression.

Seconds later, Emma let out a shout.

"Was there a monkey in your bed too, Em?" Gracie asked jokingly, not having seen any yet.

"Yes!" Emma squeaked exasperatedly.

"You guys are lying." Gracie said, "There is no way that there could be any...MONKEY!!"

As if on cue, a large orange primate leaped out from under Alice Prewitt's bed and landed on Gracie's shoulder, staring at her with wide eyes.

Gracie jumped back, a mixed expression of amusement and terror clear on her face.

After a moment of contemplation, Emma reached out and tried to pet the monkey. It stared at her blankly, and then shook off her hand before bounding away.

The girls gasped as they followed the monkey's movements, watching it end up with a much larger crowd of monkeys in the center of the dorm room.

Emma turned to her friends. "Was this some prank we had planned that I didn't know about?"

Lily shook her head dumbly. "I wouldn't have stayed in the main dorm if I knew we would be invaded by monkeys." She answered.

Gracie swore.

"Damn Marauders." Emma muttered under her breath, screaming when one of the monkeys pulled extremely hard on her hair.

* * *

By mid-day, the entire school was covered in loud, screeching monkeys, courtesy of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs.

According to the letter written to the Marauderesses, (and delivered by one of the monkeys) the pestering primates were indeed from the muggle world. To be exact, they were called Tamarins, directly imported from the Amazon. The monkeys were spell repellent, simply multiplying when a spell was cast on them. And although the Marauders promised that none were rabid, the monkeys had no problems making themselves at home anywhere they chose, whether it was in the Girl's dorms or on McGonagall's head.

"Did you try vanishing them?" Gracie asked, eyeing one of the monkeys with a glare.

"Vanishing spells don't multiply them, but they do make them angry." Lily sighed, lifting a monkey out of her bag and setting it on the table, watching as it scampered off.

"Did you distribute the t-shirts at all?" Emma questioned, turning a page of her book.

"Yeah, but no one knows who or where they're coming from. It's totally under ground." Lily answered with a wolfish grin. "It seems that we have quite a good amount of fans."

"Good. That's what we need if we want to win this thing." Gracie said.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW WHO SOLD YOU THAT T-SHIRT?!" Someone yelled from the other end of the Great Hallway.

"And cue the pissed off Marauders." The brunette muttered, looking quite pleased.

Sirius, James, Remus and Peter stalked forward and sat down huffily, digging into their lunch with anger filled vigor.

"What happened?" Emma asked, looking extremely concerned.

"The Marauderesses are selling t-shirts." James answered with a sneer. "But none of the people seem to know who or where they are coming from. Yet almost every female in school is wearing one!"

"They're good." Gracie said with a nod of approval.

"No they're not." Sirius snapped, clearly affronted by Gracie's lack of support for the Marauders. "They stole our idea."

"Then I hope you don't mind if we wear these." Lily said with a warning note, taking her robe off, revealing a light blue shirt that flashed 'Marauderesses are Number 1'.

Gracie removed her robe, revealing a yellow one that flashed 'Support Midnight, Freckles and Frown'.

James turned to Emma anxiously.

"Please don't tell me you have one too, Em."

With a sad smile, she presented her shirt as well, this time green and reading, "Silly boys, pranks are for girls'.

"You guys are so mean." Remus said with a pout, making the girls laugh.

"Well, today isn't all that bad." Lily said with an optimistic smile. "You were able to carry out YOUR hair brained scheme."

"By the way," Gracie began with a sly smile, "What is it with the Marauders and herds of animals? I mean, first it's moose, and then it's monkeys."

"Ha, moose and monkeys." Sirius chuckled to himself, making Gracie roll her eyes.

"It's all a matter of supply and demand." Remus explained, glancing over at Emma, who beamed at him. "We got a huge response with the moose, even though the Marauderesses had a pretty good prank that day as well, the Hermaphrodite."

"But tell me this; how the hell did you manage to transport over one hundred screaming monkeys into the castle without getting caught by Filch?"

"Ah, a magician never reveals his secrets." James said, wincing when Lily slapped him playfully on the arm.

"But really, herds of animals, you guys are messed up." Gracie said, kicking Sirius as he tried to hold her hand.

James looked up from his plate of spaghetti and said, "By the way, Lils, we need to go visit Harry next time there's a Hogsmeade trip."

"Well, sure, why not? When's the next trip?"

James colored slightly, "Valentine's Day."

"Oh."

Silence clouded around the table as the friends kept all attention to Lily and James.

"Well, don't you have to take out Angie?" Lily asked, raising her eyes to his.

"How about we meet there at around four, that way you can hang with your girlfriends and I can take out Angie and then we can visit our child together?"

At the word 'child' Lily blushed deeper. "That's fine, James." She answered quietly.

Another awkward silence.

"Who wants a biscuit?" Gracie yelled, shoving a basket in the middle of the group.

The embarrassing conversation was forgotten quickly as the Marauders and Marauderesses indulged in the food.

* * *

"These t-shirts are coming from somewhere. There has to be a person selling them and dealing with the money. But why doesn't anyone know who it is?" James asked, pacing the carpet in the Head's room.

"It's obviously someone in the Marauderesses inner circle, because they obviously need the money for something." Remus suggested, leaning back against the couch as he leafed through his Potions notes.

"But who?" James asked again, stopping and looking up. "It has to be someone smart and cunning and feminist and..." He cut off, staring into space.

"Do remember the night at the ball?" James asked, turning to all three of his friends. It was a good thing the girls were at the Library today.

Sirius whistled, "How could I forget? The way Gracie looked in the snug little dress?"

"Do you remember the prank the Marauderesses pulled, with the exploding balloons?"

They nodded.

"Do you remember what the balloons were filled with?"

"I believe it was a mixture of white sequins and random muggle objects, such as rubber chickens, Chinese finger tricks and yo-yos." Remus recalled, staring intently at the floor.

"Exactly. I noticed something that night, the girls, Lily, Gracie and Emma, wore white sequined masks."

When no one answered, James continued, "Do you ever think it could be a possibility that our friends are the Marauderesses?"

Sirius scoffed, "Be realistic, James. We would know. Have you ever seen them doing suspicious activity? They've always been present for the pranks, not missing. I'm not saying they're not smart enough to do it, but they wouldn't do that to us. We're their friends."

James shrugged. "It was just a thought. I didn't say I believed it. You're right Padfoot, there is no way that those girls could pull off such a stunt with us as the only guys they hang out with."

They continued to discuss Quidditch stunts, but Remus remained silent, pondering and brooding until the bell rang for the next period.

* * *

"As I always say, you can always tell if the chicken is fresh, just by how dark the skin is." Sirius explained, leaning on a repulsed Gracie as he tore at a turkey leg for dinner.

"You're such a carnivore." Lily muttered, shaking her head.

James glanced at her incredulously, "Says the girl who just ate an entire t-bone steak without sharing with me!"

Lily simply stuck her tongue out at him.

"By the way, have any of you girls seen Emma?" Remus asked, looking down the Gryffindor table for a pair of familiar violet eyes.

With a warning look at Lily, Gracie answered, "She said she had to go return a book to the library, or Madame Pince would skin her alive. We wouldn't want that, would we?"

Remus didn't answer, continuing to glare suspiciously around the wall.

"So," Lily drawled, trying to change the topic quickly, "Are you guys looking forward to our quiz tomorrow in Potions?"

A conversation ensued, one that Remus fortunately took action in.

Suddenly, Emma walked over and sat between Lily and Gracie. "Hey guys, sorry I'm late. I had to do some last minute homework."

Remus' eyes flickered between Emma and Lily before asking casually. "Really? I thought you said she was returning a book, Lils."

"I was," Emma nearly shouted hastily, "After finishing the homework I needed it for."

Remus scowled and Lily held back a sigh of relief.

"Hey," James said, tapping Remus on the shoulder, "What's with the ceiling?"

The Marauders looked up, jaws falling open as a giant black screen suddenly descended from the ceiling, reaching the floor like a curtain.

"What is it?" Sirius asked quietly, looking almost afraid.

"It looks like a movie theater screen." Lily said, winking at her friends when the boys weren't looking.

A camera snapped out of thin air, remaining suspended as it began to project a moving picture onto the screen.

At the sight of what the movie consisted of, the Marauders' jaws dropped even lower, nearly skimming the floor.

The clip showed the Gryffindor 7th year boy's dorm. Sirius and James were standing in front of the camera, smiling giddily; quite the opposite compared to the present Sirius and James, who looked ready to die.

"Hi! I'm Sirius and this is Jamesie!" The movie Sirius waved, giving a flirty wave.

"And we're going to dance in girls knickers!" James shouted. "We went to Hogsmeade and bought knickers and we're going to dance in them because we're drunk!"

The two proceeded to take their boxers off, revealing pink, frilly and rather tight looking underwear. With a holler, the two began to jump up and down, screaming random things and laughing like children.

"You guys are drunk." Remus muttered from somewhere behind where the camera was filming.

The dance continued on for another minute or so, no doubt giving the entire school enough time to laugh themselves to tears. Gracie laughed the hardest of all.

The movie ended, with only one credit, Brought to you by the Marauderesses; Vote for the Marauderesses!

Cheers erupted around the hall, mixed with the lingering laughter. James and Sirius could not help but join in. Remus looked calculatingly at the floor.

"Well," Gracie began, wiping a tear from her eyes as she looked at Sirius, "I must say that beat any kind of pain I've ever inflicted on you. Oh, revenge is SWEET. Thank you, Marauderesses."

"How could the Marauderesses do that to us?" James shouted once he controlled his laughter, banging his fist so hard on the table that they all jumped. "That was in our dorm! On Christmas! How the hell did they get that footage?!"

Lily cast down her eyes, refusing to look at him. "Hidden cameras?" She mumbled, feeling suddenly secretive.

"While I have to admit that Sirius are justified in our being more than drunk the evening this was filmed, it was an alright prank." James said moodily.

The three girls were silent, though the boys thought it was because they were simply thinking about the prank. In reality they were trying not to laugh.

"I'm going to bed." Lily sighed after a moment of hilarious thought. "Girls, you coming? Or should I wait?"

"No we're done. Let's go." Emma agreed.

The three girls walked off, and Remus stared after them.

"I'll be right back." He said quietly, shoving out of his seat.

"EMMA!" He shouted, catching up to the three girls.

She turned, eyes brightening slightly when they caught sight of him. "What, Moony?"

"Can I talk to you for a minute? Alone?" He asked, looking at her friends meaningfully.

"We'll be down in the fourth floor corridor." Lily said, eyeing Emma before giving a small smile and walking away with Gracie.

Remus waited until they were out of earshot and then rounded on Emma.

"You, Lily and Gracie were the only Gryffindor 7th years besides us who stayed over for the holidays." He stated.

Emma looked surprised at the obvious fact. "Yes."

"And you told me once that Lily, being a muggle, is indeed in possession of a muggle film camera."

She nodded, but stayed silent.

Remus stared at her for a minute, before saying, "You're the Marauderesses."

Nothing about her face betrayed anything, but then again, Remus didn't see her fist clench behind her back.

"Remus, how could you think that? We could never pull something like that off. We don't prank." She said bluntly before starting to turn away.

He grabbed her wrist and wheeled her around, sounding irritated. "Em, who else could have pulled of a muggle based prank, needing both Gryffindor passwords and a complicated spell that would get the camera to work on the Hogwart's grounds?"

"Remus, you of all people should know to trust us. Don't just assume." Emma said firmly, pulling her hand from his. "I have to go."

Remus let her stalk off without another word. Yet, even as she rounded the corner of the hallway, he felt another strong wave of renewed suspicions upon seeing a small tape clutched in her hand. A tape just big enough to fit inside a camera.

* * *

"OH!" Gracie yelled triumphantly, punching her fist in the air. "The Marauderesses are in the lead 300 to 295!"

"This isn't something to celebrate, Grae!" Emma shouted anxiously, wringing her hands. "They're onto us! Remus is the smartest and he's already got us practically pinpointed!"

Lily, who was standing with a hand on her hip as she glanced at the scoreboard, looked worried as well. "I agree with Em, we need to be more careful than ever now. If we aren't, they cold easily find out about everything. All they'd have to do is open my trunk upstairs and they'd know all about the Marauderesses, their pranks and their merchandise."

"Look," Gracie began, leaning against the stone wall, "We are talking about the Marauders, the guys who THOUGHT they were the better pranksters. We're kicking their arses, why should we be afraid of them?"

"I guess you're right. But we need to keep the pranking on the down low. If they so much as catch a whiff of next weeks prank on us, we're caught and spend the remainder of the year in detention.

Emma picked up a monkey that had been hopping around, cuddling it as it squawked. "Yep with next week's prank we certainly have no problems ahead.

The monkey leapt out of Emma's arms and rebounded on Gracie's head, who screamed loudly.

"Yeah," The brunette said casually, flinging the monkey away from her head, "Besides narcissistic, perverted males who send platoons of monkeys on us, what's there to worry about?"

* * *

**A/N: I really need a lot of reviews, people, I'm craving reviews at the moment! ****And for those of you have not voted on my profile poll, please do. Oh, and thanks for helping me reach over 100 reviews!**

**REVIEW!!**


	14. Waffles & War Dances

It was five in the morning, and no less than that. Snores and mumbles echoed throughout the Gryffindor dorms. Other than that, all was silent.

A patch of fiery red hair slipped out of the portrait hole.

Hitching a bag over her shoulder with a tremendous yawn, Lily Evans walked down the corridor, emanating a determined feel of purpose. She had a mission, and goddammit, she was going to complete it.

She passed the prankwar scoreboard, a smug smile flashing across her face as she saw that the Marauders and Marauderesses were evenly tied 325‑325. The whole school was so overjoyed by the previous pranks that the Marauderesses and Marauders' t-shirt sales had hit all time success. There wasn't a day that someone inn the school was wearing a shirt that read either 'Marauders for Life' or 'Silly boys, pranks are for girls' or some other clever slogan that the Marauders made up.

The prankwar was, without a doubt the most successful and exciting event in the year. At times it even seemed a more popular conversation subject than Quidditch, which was truly saying something.

Lily walked silently over to a painting of a bowel of fruit, sighing with relief before tickling the pair.

As the pear giggled and let her into the Hogwarts kitchens, Lily began to ponder her relationship with James. Well, if you could call it a relationship. Being best friends with the guy you swear you loathed the last six years or so is always a rather ironic concept. Lily smiled as she walked along the tables of food set out for breakfast, thinking of yesterday when James and her had stayed up till three in the morning finishing their NEWT prep homework, and how they celebrated the finish of it with a rather loud and messy pillow fight, covering the Head's dorm with white feathers.

The red head stopped upon reaching a giant pot of some sluggish white substance labeled, WAFFLE BATTER. With a glance around to make sure no one was looking, the Head Girl, the epitome of a responsible and mature student, pulled out a vial of purple liquid. Silently, almost hesitantly, she uncorked the bottle and poured the potion into the batter, mixing it in until the faint shade of lavender was no longer seen.

She traveled to other pots, some labeled, OATMEAL, others labeled PANCAKE BATTER. It took a half an hour to work her way around the whole colossal kitchen.

When the contents of the vial were completely disposed of, Lily slipped the bottle back into her bag and walked out of the glass tiled room.

She walked slowly back to the Head's dorm, letting out the smallest of giggles to find that the floor of the dorm was just as she had left it: covered in feathers.

Minutes later, the castle was silent, save for the occasional snores from various students.

* * *

"Good morning, young Evans." Gracie crooned, patting the seat next to her for her friend to sit at. "You're looking rather exhausted."

"I was up early." Lily said with a hint of a smile.

"What here can we eat without getting pranked?" Emma asked calmly, scanning the table's contents.

"Everything except pancakes, oatmeal, eggs and waffles." Lily answered before setting her head down on her shoulders and closing her eyes.

"Wow. You did well. I think the Marauders would be proud of you, Lils." Gracie said with a smile, patting Lily on the head.

"Proud of Lily for what?" Sirius asked, sliding in next to Emma with a wink at Gracie.

"I'm sorry Black, did you say something? I don't speak arrogant arse so you'll have to change your dialect if you want me to understand you." The brunette said, feigning deafness.

James sat on Lily's other side, nudging her in the ribs until she looked up at him with a glare. "Go away. I'm tired."

"I jut thought I'd let you know that I cleaned up the feathers, Miss Cranky-Pants."

"Thanks." Lily's grin softened. "Sorry for snapping."

James shrugged. "I don't mind. I'm used to it." He ducked as Lily slapped him on the shoulder. "Now, who wants waffles?"

"No thank you." The Marauderesses answered quickly, sharing a glance.

"Count me in!" Sirius said loudly, earning a frown from Gracie.

"Where are Remus and Peter?" Emma asked, eyeing the waffles James scooped onto his and Sirius's plates.

"Remus is um...with his uncle for a few days and Peter is still sleeping." Sirius answers, licking his lips as he poured syrup over his waffles.

"Lily, are you sure you don't want any?" James asked playfully, waving a fork in front of the red-head's face. "You love waffles!"

"I'd rather not." Lily answered with a small laugh. "I-um...I've heard that too many waffles can be bad for your heart."

"Too true." Sirius agreed, promptly shoving a bite the size of his fist into his mouth.

Emma crossed her fingers under the table, and Lily bit her lip. Gracie made a gagging noise at Sirius' habits.

"Now, is it me, or are these waffles actually sweeter than usual?" James asked, shoving bite after bite into his already full mouth.

The girls bit back a laugh and continued to pick at their simple and quaint breakfast: toast.

* * *

Lily was supposed to be taking notes. Lily was also supposed to be controlling her rampant thoughts about a certain boy. But clearly, that fruitless attempt at self control was impossible when said boy was passing notes to her in Charms.

**Lily, I'm bored. -J**

**_Hey, you know what you should do? TAKE NOTES THAT WE ARE SUPPOSED TO TAKE. -L_**

**Yeah, but where's the fun in that?**

**_It's not supposed to be fun, James. It's simply your duty as a seventh year student, Quidditch captain, AND head boy, might I add._**

**Don't ruin my mood.**

**_Mood?_**

**I'm feeling oddly giddy today. It must've been the waffles. Yep, definitely the waffles.**

**_Oddly giddy? James, you're like that ALL the time._**

**No, today I feel really giddy.**

Lily stared at the note with a smile, and then glanced across the classroom when she heard a shrill giggle erupt.

**_Did you just giggle, James Potter?_**

**I think I just did. Hey, why are you laughing, Lily?**

**_..._**

**Lily? Why are you laughing?**

**_..._**

**LILY!**

**_James...um...look at your hair please._**

James reached over to the desk next to him and grabbed Polly Parkinson's hand held mirror, holding it in front of his face.

"Bloody hell!" He yelled loudly, leaping out of his seat.

His hair, once black, messy and short, was now green, curly and long, nearly passing his shoulder blades.

"Mr. Potter!" Chirped Professor Flitwick. "Would you kindly please take your seat?"

"Lily!" James yelped, dashing across the room to his friend. "What the hell is going on?!"

Lily didn't answer, she was currently clutching her desk to support herself as she laughed, tears leaking out of her eyes. The rest of the class soon followed suit as several students acquired oddly colored and styled hair.

"Lily." James said firmly, "What's going on?"

"If I knew, I would tell you." She answered, breaking out into another spasm of mirth.

"I..." James stopped and glanced at himself once more in the mirror, seconds later joining Lily in her never ending laughter. The situation WAS quite hilarious, even if he was the victim of it.

"I'm sure you didn't have anything to do with things." James whispered to Lily as Flitwick fought to control the classroom.

"You think I'd want to miss out on something like this?" She joked back, gesturing to James' hair.

He laughed, setting a friendly arm around Lily's shoulders as they beamed at each other.

* * *

"So, I'm guessing the Marauderesses are back at it again?" James asked wincing as Lily tugged at his hair.

"I guess so." Lily said, a hint of a blush gracing her cheeks. "Now hold still James, I want to get this braid perfect."

By lunchtime, it was known school wide that the Marauderesses had spiked most of the breakfast food with a potion that changed everyone's hair dramatically. Much to the teacher's dismay, the potion was irreversible, resulting in many distracted students and many wasted classes.

"Are the Marauders going to be planning something?" Lily asked Sirius, tugging James braid so he would not talk.

"We'll think of something once Moony gets back." Sirius shrugged, leaning against the table as he munched on a pear, his purple Mohawk standing out against the grey of his eyes.

"Wow. Get a load of you." Gracie cackled, walking up to the table with a camera. "Smile, Sirius."

Ever the model, Sirius gave it his best I'm-bad-and-I-know-it smile and Gracie snapped a picture.

"Oh yes," She said, "This is definitely going in my favorite memories book." Gracie said, rubbing her hands together like an evil mastermind.

"You only like it because I'm in it." Sirius answered suavely.

The brunette ignored him.

A couple of Hufflepuffs walked by, sporting bright pink hair that made them look like the top of a cupcake.

"Do you think the Marauders will be able to top the Marauderesses in the prankwar?" One of them whispered.

"I doubt it." The other answered. "The Marauderesses practically started a revolution. The girls are completely against the guys now. Did you here that Luann Shacklebolt broke up with her boyfriend just because she claimed he refused to treat her as a strong, independent woman?"

"No way! Well, honestly, I think it's a good thing. The boys here need to respect us more."

"Amen to that."

The two girls walked away, completely oblivious to the fact that Gracie, Sirius, James and Lily were all listening intently.

A group of guys walked by, all seventh years by the looks of it.

"Hey Evans!" One of them waved, ignoring his friends as they nudged him and made wolf-whistles.

"Hi Davies!" Lily called back, smiling brightly.

"Who is he?" James asked sharply, regarding the boy with perfectly normal colored hair, but no one answered him.

"Say, are you doing anything next Hogsmeade, Evans?"

James jaw dropped, still unnoticed. He turned to Lily, wincing as his hair pulled. "Lily, you are busy. We have to visit Harry. YOU. ARE. BUSY."

"Of course not." The red head answered, all but abandoning James as she let go of the half braid and faced Davies.

"Would you mind booking an appointment with me, say...for the whole day?"

Lily's eyes widened slightly and for a minute she was kind of speechless. "I-uh. Sure, Chase."

"Cool." Davies answered, his friends smirking behind him as he smiled at Lily.

"I'll er...meet you at the courtyard?" She asked hesitantly.

"No." James answered for her. "You're not meeting that slime ball anywhere. What do you even see in him, Lils?"

"Alright. See ya, Lily." Davies walked off with his group of friends.

Lily sank a little in her seat, looking dazed.

"Chase Davies?" Gracie asked, a grin on her face. "You hit the jackpot, Lily."

Sirius scoffed. "Good luck, Evans. Davies is a sod."

"Maybe," Gracie relented, nodding, "But he's also got that perfectly tame able brown hair and those clear blue eyes. I don't think there's a single girl in this castle that hasn't dreamt of those eyes at least once."

At this comparison, James reached up and felt his long curly hair with great hatred toward both the previous style and the present style.

"What happened to the no dating until you become Minister of Magic rule?" He asked exasperatedly, grabbing Lily by the shoulders and turning her to face him.

"Chase Davies." Lily said softly, her lips twitching upward in a smile.

This was good, she told herself. Maybe I can forget about pining over James and then I can move on. But...Chase Davies? Wow.

Lily shook her head, clearing her secret thoughts, "I'm sorry James, did you say something? I didn't hear you while I was talking to Dav-- I mean, Chase."

James just stared at her, open mouthed.

"I just wanted to say I'm happy for you." James said with a fake but convincing smile.

"Thanks so much, James!" Lily said, hugging him. "I appreciate your approval. Now, I've got to go find Emma and tell her." She hitched her bag over her shoulder and ran off.

James turned back to his macaroni and stabbed it viciously. He didn't even bother to eat it.

"Who is this Davies?" He asked Sirius, who shook his head.

"Seventh year Ravenclaw." Gracie filled him in. "Gorgeous, smart, good reputation. Basically, your worst enemy in the Battle for Lily Evans."

James said nothing, only continued to massacre his macaroni.

"And how does Lily know him?" He asked after a few more minutes of silence.

The brunette shrugged. "I think she had a bunch of prefect's rounds with him last year, and I know she danced with him at the ball."

"Which one was he?" James questioned, thinking of all the boys that danced with Lily.

"The one with the gold mask."

"He has funny looking ears." James pouted.

Gracie narrowed her eyes. "You'd better not interfere."

Sirius sat up and glared back at Gracie, "Why wouldn't we? If the guy's a prat, we'll take care of him."

"Look," Gracie began, rubbing her temples as she struggled to keep from kicking Sirius, "This is the first person Lily has ever said yes to for a date. She deserves to try this, do something new. If you screw this up, or turn Davies into a pumpkin, don't count on ever having children."

It wasn't a threat, it was a promise, James knew as he stared at Gracie's dark and currently menacing eyes.

So as long as he's still capable of moving and breathing, we can do whatever we want with him?" Sirius clarifies.

"Don't. Touch. Him." Gracie answers. She looks at James and gives a sympathetic smile. "James, you're her best friend besides Em and me, don't you want her to be happy?"

No. "Yes."

"And you want her to experience life before she becomes Minister of Magic?"

Not if it means dating some sod who she thinks has pretty eyes. "Yes."

Gracie nods. "Good, then stay out of Lily's business." She stood up and walked out of the Great Hall.

James continued to dice his macaroni, glaring for no reason.

"So..." Sirius starts, sitting up. "You know what would help you feel better about this whole Evans‑is‑dating‑a‑prick deal?"

James grunts as a way to show he's listening.

"I think we need to go upstairs to Moony and Wormtail and plan a lovely, novel, kick‑arse prank."

James' head snapped up and he gave a feral grin as he imagined a prank that involved Davies' head falling off.

"No harming Evans' date." He friend reminded him.

James' grin disappeared, but he still looked determined. "Yeah, let's prank. I need a distraction."

"You don't need to tell me that." Sirius muttered, eyeing James mush/macaroni with great revulsion.

* * *

Dinner time that night in the Great Hall was a tenser occasion than usual. Remus, Peter, Lily and Emma were completely baffled as to why James insisted on chopping his food up into little pieces and glaring occasionally at the Ravenclaw table.

"So James." Began Sirius bracingly, "Do you think we'll do well in our next Quidditch match? Against Ravenclaw?"

"We'll flatten him...I mean, them." James grunted, now working on dicing up his roast pork.

"I'm sure you will. You're team is superb enough." Lily added, giving a small but puzzled smile.

"The Marauders are paying a visit, I believe." Sirius said after a few minutes of awkward silencer. He nodded towards the teacher's table.

Professor McGonagall, who had previously been talking to Professor Dumbledore, suddenly emitted a loud screech, eyes widening in horror. Titters echoed through the hall as Professor Sinstra also let out a loud call, this one more bird like.

As if compelled by the Imperius Curse, the teachers all stood and promptly stumbled into the center of the hall, where they began to flap their arms in an upward motion like giant eagles. Hagrid stamped out a beat and the teachers all made numerous noises as they began to dance around in a circle, still flapping their arms, but in a faster motion.

It was an odd sight to see...so many rule-worshipping, orderly teachers suddenly engaging in what looked like a demented version of Cowboys and Indians.

The students, first fearing their teachers were breached with madness, began to laugh uproariously as they hitched their robes up and danced around in wild, abrasive movements that were definitely considered unruly.

James, happy for a distraction, stood and called, "The Marauders present to you a demonstration of the traditional war dance by one of the Southern Amazonian tribes. Vote for the Marauders!"

Cheers and screams of laughter responded to James' announcement as the teachers' dance picked up in tempo and their noises became more unearthly and crazy. Lily thought she would never see the day when McGonagall would actually perfectly imitate a scarlet macaw just for the hell of it.

Sirius clutched the table as he tried to steady himself, laughter rippling throughout him. "This..." He began, "Is pure geniusness. Well done, boys."

Even the Marauderesses, who were usually unimpressed by the boys' pranks, joined in their laughter.

"How did you DO this?" Emma asked through her giggles.

"It's simply a small potion you put into their evening mead." Remus answered, not sure whether he should be mortified or excited by the outcome of the prank.

"It is rather brilliant." Lily smiled, making James beam and blush at the same time.

The teachers suddenly stopped, looking wildly around. McGonagall immediately dropped her skirts and stood straight, a fury in her eyes that really could not be quelled. The Marauders shrank down in their seats as she turned in direction of the Gryffindor table.

"You boys are in so much trouble." She said, her lips thin line as ever as she glared hawk-like at them.

The boys nodded, knowing they were totally screwed.

"Wait a second, Minerva." Said a wizened voice.

Dumbledore, looking graceful and civilized once again, walked among the tables to the Marauders and Marauderesses.

"I believe," He began, "That the Marauders are not the only ones to blame for this incident."

"But Professor Dumbledore, surly they must be put in detention-" McGonagall started, but Dumbledore cut her off.

"Minerva, this prankwar has two teams, if my sources serve me well. Seeing as the Marauders and Marauderesses are both involved in this game of never ending tag, I think it is right that no punishment will be served until BOTH parties are caught."

The students, who had been silent throughout Dumbledore's statement, applauded at the lenient decision.

"Of course sir." James mumbled. "We're aware that we owe you a lifetime of detentions and house points."

"That settles that, then." Dumbledore said cheerily, looking down at the Marauders, Lily, Gracie and Emma. "Hopefully, in due time, the Marauderesses will see to it that their identities are revealed." At these words his eyes traveled over to Lily, twinkling with a knowing significance. The red head ignored the sudden feeling that Dumbledore knew everything about the Marauderesses.

With that, Dumbledore walked to the exit of the entrance hall, turning back with a small smile to say, "Oh, and Mr. Potter. I believe the war dance you had the staff perform was indeed from the Northern Amazonian tribes, not the Southern."

And with that, the Headmaster left the hall.

* * *

"I always said the man was off his rocker." Sirius yawned. "I think that detention will be ten times worse when we have to share it with our enemies."

"Be grateful we've been let off for a few months or so, Padfoot." James snapped, staring into the common room fire.

"What's got your knickers in a twist?" Lily asked. "You just displayed a kick arse prank, so what's to brood about?"

Before James could reply, a distraction in the form of Angelina White walked up to him.

"Hi baby!" She squealed, standing directly in front of him. "I loved the prank!"

James glanced warily at Lily for a minute, whose face remained passive and completely devoid of emotion. With a shrug, he pulled Angie into his lap and hungrily kissed her on the lips.

It was nice, having a distraction, he thought to himself. Hopefully, it would be enough to make all his friends get sick and leave.

Lily promptly got up and grabbed Emma and Gracie, muttering darkly as she dragged them up to the dormitory. She slammed the door behind her.

"Um...Lily?" Emma asked, her violet eyes riddled with concern. "Are you alright?"

"We are going to make a prank. The best Goddamn prank in the world. And we are going to win this prank war." Lily said through gritted teeth, reaching under her bed and pulling out her hidden text books on pranks.

"Lils," Gracie began uncertainly, "We just pranked today. Let's give it a few days. We deserve a break."

Lily glared furiously at her friends. Then she sagged a little where she stood. "You're right. I need to crash."

"We'll be down stairs if you need us, Lils." Emma whispered before they walked out.

Gracie walked into the common room and sat next to Sirius, who was staring with revulsion as James snogged Angie in plain view of the entire common room. He glanced over at Gracie as she sat, a small smirk flitting across his features.

"What is he doing?" Gracie asked, looking at James.

"Revenge snogs." Sirius explains. "When a bloke is under pressure or stress, they release it through snogging."

"That's disgusting."

Sirius shrugged, "You'd be surprised at how relaxing it can be sometimes."

The brunette laughed. "I give it two weeks before either her or James crack." She said disdainfully.

"Ten galleons say Lily cracks first." Sirius blurted, winking at Gracie.

"You're on." She agreed, shaking his hand and knowing that it was very likely that both Lily and James could crack at the same time.

She wouldn't even be surprised if that happened.

* * *

**A/N: Please review and vote on the pranks! I'd really appreciate it! And check out my profile for polls and information on updates! I'm so sorry for not updating sooner, but school and life in general has been quite hectic so please don't stab me to death with pitch forks!**


	15. Boyfriends & Breakups

Valentine's Day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was a monumental occasion every year, bringing the hormone driven teenagers to give chocolates and kisses to one another. There wasn't one student that was depressed about the holiday.

And with a exams looming nearer, a raging prankwar and other stressful subjects, most seventh years looked much forward to a Valentine's Day at Hogsmeade. Most seventh years had dates or previous engagements, whereas others did not. Either way, a day at Hogsmeade was much needed for the students at Hogwarts.

And yet, as James stood there in the courtyard with all his friends and fellow classmates, watching Lily talk animatedly to Chase Davies several feet away from him, he couldn't help but feel that this had to be the worst Valentine's Day yet. Even with the Marauders leading in the prankwar 345-330, James couldn't bring himself to hardly smile as he caught sight of Lily's hand entwined in Davies'. The last few weeks or so had been hell for him, seeing as Lily gradually began disappearing to the Library for hours at a time, and when he would look for her, James would indeed find her in the Library, with none other than Chase Davies by her side.

The prankwar was sagging, and even with small pranks here and there, it was hard for the Marauders and Marauderesses to make a deadly move on one another, especially with some of their team members being so distracted with one another.

"Do you think they're an official couple?" James asked Sirius distractedly, who was leaning against a pillar and winking at the occasional girl walking by.

"Huh?" Sirius raised his head.

James rolled his eyes; there was no hope in getting Sirius to focus when he was busy scoping out the opposite sex. "Never mind."

"Where's Angie?" Sirius asked conversationally.

"In detention." James answered, looking not worried one bit. "She'll be joining us in the later part of the afternoon."

He turned back to the groups of students, eyeing the couples with a bitter look. Emmaline and Remus were standing next to one another, chatting amiably and acting very unlike two people who are supposed to be on a date. Lily was still talking to Davies, James noted angrily, and the pair looked more like a couple than anyone else in the courtyard.

"Hey James," Gracie walked up, clad in jeans, a fuzzy sweater and a Gryffindor scarf. She glanced at Lily and Chase and rolled her eyes, "If you're trying to burn a hole in Davies' head, I'd suggest moving closer."

James gave Gracie an amused look, "I was actually trying to send Davies telepathic messages telling him to leave Lily the hell alone, but you're close enough."

The brunette let out a shout of laughter, causing Sirius to get knocked out of his Hot-Girl-Induced coma and focus his attention on Gracie. Before they could start arguing, James spotted Davies walking away from Lily and took the chance to practically sprint over to her.

"Lils!" James practically yelled. The knot of jealousy in his stomach loosened somewhat when she turned around, beaming at him.

"Hey, Jamesie!" She cried back. "You got a date to Hogsmeade?"

"Angie's joining up with me later," James shrugged, "What about you? Did Davies already dump you?"

"No." The red-head narrowed her eyes. "He's just going to the restroom."

"Oh." James stood there, awkwardly blushing for a minute or so. "Er....what time will your date be over?"

"It's probably going to last the whole day." Lily sighed happily. "Chase has got a bunch of things for us to do."

"Really?" James voice shot up a few octaves as a new wave of jealousy ripped through him. "That's great. But...d-don't we have to visit Harry at some point?"

"Oh, crap." Lily smacked a hand to her forehead. "I forgot. Um....how about we go at around two in the afternoon or so. I'll tell Chase to wait for me, or something."

"That's fine." James smiled. "Just don't be late, Evans!"

"I'm never late, Potter," Lily sniffed, trying and failing to hide her smile, "Everyone else is merely early."

James shook his head with an even bigger smile than before. "I'll see you later."

"Bye James." Lily waved.

He walked away, and by the time he turned once more to wave at her, she was once again locked in an intimate conversation between her and Davies. The Head Boy found himself once again on the edge of the courtyard, watching everyone else, and wishing he had Lily as a companion as opposed to Gracie and Sirius, who were arguing heatedly about Sirius' intelligence level.

"What do you think they're going to do on their date?" James asked Gracie, who finally gave up on arguing and was ignoring Sirius.

"I don't know," Gracie answered with a grimace, "Probably someplace really kinky, like the Shrieking Shack."

James' reaction was more or less very amusing.

"WHAT??!!!!" He shouted, causing several third years standing nearby to give him weird looks. "He's taking her WHERE?"

Gracie was laughing so hard she could barely speak. "I...was...kidding, you dolt!"

But James had already had the seed of insanity planted in his mind, and it was most certainly growing and driving him crazy.

"Gracie," He grabbed the brunette's arm, "We have to follow them. I don't want that slime Davies' taking my favorite red head to someplace like the Shrieking Shack."

"Relax," She said, rolling her eyes and removing his hand from her arm, "I was joking."

It was like he didn't hear her. James just couldn't get the nasty images of Lily and Davies at the Shrieking Shack out of his head, and he was going to do anything to prevent them from happening.

"C'mon," This time, James grabbed both Sirius and Gracie and pulled them after him, "We're going undercover."

"To do what?" Sirius asked, completely clueless as to what was going on (he had gone back to eyeing the ladies).

"Spy on Lily and Davies." James answered stonily, his jaw set. "We're going to grab the Invisibility Cloak and the Map and then we're going to sneak into Honeydukes."

"The what and the WHAT?" Gracie asked sharply, never having been let in on Marauder secrets.

Sirius suddenly stopped walking. "Wait...waitwaitwait!"

James whipped around angrily, "What? We don't have time for this?"

The grey-eyed Marauder crossed his arms over his chest, "Why do we even need the Cloak and the Map? Why don't we just go down there?"

"We don't need them to be suspicious?" James answered. "Now C'mon!"

"We can't let a GIRL in on Marauder secrets!" Sirius hissed. "They're the things that define us as men!"

"Or as incredibly masculine women." Gracie muttered under her breath, earning a glare from both boys.

"We can trust Gracie," James said, "Right, Gracie?"

She raised her hand, "Scouts Honor."

* * *

"We're gonna regret this." Sirius mumbled to himself as they stumbled along the tunnel leading to Hogsmeade.

"This is so cool," Gracie said to herself, glancing around the blackened space, "And don't worry, Black, your secret is safe with me."

"Ugh, sure it is. The queen of ice is going to keep a Marauder secret? Likely."

Though Gracie couldn't see Sirius, she could practically hear the rolling of his eyes.

"You know," The brunette huffed as they trekked through the unwinding dark, "I was under the impression that you were attracted to me. Why the nasty comments?"

"Hey, you kissed me, not the other way around."

"WILL YOU TWO JUST QUIT IT?!" James shouted, sending echoes down the dark passage. "Jesus, I can barely think with all your racket!"

A pause. Then, "She started it."

"Shut up, Black." The accused growled.

James heaved a sigh. They still had half the tunnel to go through and it was already turning into a verbal sparring match with Gracie against Sirius. In the back of James head, a clear picture of Lily snogging Davies was playing, and getting ever so clearer and likelier to him.

"Has she snogged him?" He asked, interrupting his friends' bickering.

"Has who snogged who?" Came Gracie's voice, sounding slightly more then relieved to be removed from the verbal sparring match.

"Lily. Has she snogged," James gulped, "Davies?"

"How should I know that?" Gracie scoffed. "We've got more important matters to worry about other than Lily's love life. I mean, she like the guy, James. It's not a crime."

"No, but underage sex is." James replied sharply.

Sirius snickered at the word 'sex' and Gracie elbowed him.

"James," Gracie tugged on his sleeve, "I know that you want to look out for Lily, but this is a little extreme, don't you think?"

He didn't answer, merely checking the Marauder's Map under the light of his wand.

"The passage exit is about thirty feet from here." He said a minute later. "We'll all put the cloak on and find Lily."

"Hang on," Sirius said, "I don't want to spend the whole day stalking the object of your affections, mate."

"I agree." Gracie added, "I have an essay for charms calling my name."

"Guys, please?" James put his best puppy dog face on, despite the dark.

A moment of silence, and then his companions nodded.

"Thanks." James replied, walking ahead.

"You're so going to lose the bet." Gracie whispered in Sirius' ear as soon as James was out of earshot.

"Oh yeah? And how's that?"

"It's clear that he's already off his rocker and cracking very easily." Came the smooth reply, triumph clear in its tone.

* * *

"They have to be somewhere here!" James shouted frantically, squinting through the fabric of the Invisibility Cloak.

"I'm not sure they--OW! Sirius, you stepped on my foot, you prat!"

Sirius' muttered apology was cut off as James let out a cry of happiness and dragged the two across the street into a shop. He tore the cloak off of them and tucked it into his bag.

"Madame Puddifoot's?" Sirius raised an eyebrow as he looked about the restaurant while Gracie shuddered. "This is that horrifying place where you were so afraid Lily was going to be shagging a boy other than you?"

James said nothing, only glaring and ordering a table for three. The waitress gave the trio an odd glance but lead them to the little pink table in the corner of the tea shop, handing them each a menu. Gracie took one look at hers before throwing it down disgustedly. Sirius continued raising an eyebrow, while James stared to the right of the restaurant.

The three ordered some coffee and cookies and sat in silence, Sirius and Gracie looking repulsed with everything around them and James staring at a red head.

James wasn't sure what he was doing there, and now felt incredibly stupid just sitting there with Gracie and Sirius, while Lily, some fifty feet away from him, was enjoying a nice romantic date with Chase Davies.

"What does she even see in Davies?" James blurted loudly, causing the waitress delivering their coffee and heart-shaped cookies to give him a dirty look.

"Is that a rhetorical question? Gracie asked, snapping a heart shaped cookie in half with a self-satisfied smile, "Because James, I hate to say it, but Davies is a pretty nice guy. Sure, maybe I have to agree with you and admit that his ears are rather funny looking, but he's smart and good looking."

"Are you actually admitting that a member of the opposite sex is attractive?" Sirius asked incredulously, staring wide-eyed at Gracie.

"Yes," She sniffed, "I do that sometimes."

"Why don't you ever tell me that I'm attractive?" He asked indignantly.

Gracie looked at him flatly before answering, "You're attractive when you're not acting like a right arse." She paused, narrowing her eyes in thought. "I actually did once say that to you, when I was getting rid of my clones."

"But how could I have known if you were telling the truth?"

The brunette smiled devilishly. "There's no way to be sure. Even now."

"I'm all of those things!" James interrupted exasperatedly. "I'm nice, smart and handsome. AND," He lowered his voice, "I don't have funny looking ears!"

"Are we still on this subject?" Gracie groaned, swinging around to face James, "Look, why don't you just tell Lily how you feel about her and tell Davies to take a hike?"

"It's not that simple!" James followed Gracie's idea and took out his anger at such a frilly restaurant on the heart-shaped cookies by snapping them in half and was surprised to find hat is did make him feel better. "I would end up looking like an idiot times a million and Lily would probably never speak to me again."

Gracie shrugged and turned back to snapping cookies in half before drowning them in her coffee.

They (Sirius, James and Gracie, that is) went back to their original positions. Sitting there with nothing to do was what they did for the next hour or so. James hated to admit that his jealousy grew with every time he saw Lily smile or laugh at something Davies said. He even had to clench his fists every time he saw Lily's and Davies' hands entwined under the tables.

"I'm really bored." Sirius finally announced after waking up form a nap on the pink table. "We've been here for over an hour. I've had my coffee and yet this place is still boring me to tears!"

Gracie nodded, snapping a cookie into smaller and smaller pieces.

"What time is it?" James asked, not replying to either of his friends' pleas.

"Half past one." The brunette answered over a yawn. "Please, James? Can we just go?"

James looked at Gracie and Sirius, both practically identical with their haughtily amused and tired expressions.

He waved them away, "Fine. Go have fun. I'll just go visit Harry a little early."

Gracie smiled with appreciation and patted Sirius on the shoulder, "You hear that, Padfoot? We're free!"

The two were out of the restaurant before James could say goodbye. With a shrug of his shoulders, he payed the coffee and cookie bill, trying to ignore the couple across the room.

* * *

"She's fifteen minutes late, Harry." James said to the moose. "Fifteen minutes late. Your mother has never been late."

The moose blinked lazily back at James with those big brown eyes.

It was true. Lily Evans was NEVER late, so that fact that she was at the moment was unsettling to James, almost terrifying.

"What if she's hurt?" James asked nervously. "What if she's at Madame Puddifoot's lying dead on the floor because she choked on one of those demented heart-shaped cookies!? What if she's--"

James never got to ponder the possibilities of what could be keeping his red-head friend so delayed for at that precise moment, she came running over to him, date trailing along in her wake.

"James!" She cried. "I am so sorry I'm late." Despite the apology in her voice, she looked positively happy with being latte to the Harry Visit. "But Chase took me to see the Shrieking Shack and we decided to go inside and lost track of time."

"Yeah, sorry about that Potter." Chase said, not looking very sorry at all as he beamed at Lily. "But it's hard to get somewhere on time when you've got this one," He jerked his finger towards her, "Hanging onto you because she's so scared of the Shrieking Shack."

"I was not scared!" Lily defended, swatting Davies playfully on the arm.

"Was too!"

They continued the game back and forth, laughing like two chattering parakeets. James didn't find it funny at all, but kept his mouth shut.

The couple and Marauder stood for a minute, before Davies said, "I'll reserve us a table at the Three Broomsticks. Don't take too long, Lils."

Lils. That was James' nickname for her, and no other blokes. As Davies squeezed Lily's hand and walked away, James turned back to Harry and gave him another carrot.

Lily walked over to the corral fence and hopped over, stumbling a bit as she landed next to the father of her moose. She grabbed his sleeve and leaned into him as she righted herself. She let go quickly, flushing and focusing on Harry.

"Hi there, Harry." She cooed, scratching behind his ears and petting his nose. "Sorry to be late."

"He was in the midst of a mental breakdown," James said, "I had to keep feeding him carrots so he wouldn't go galloping off to find you himself."

The red-head wasn't sure, but she could have sworn she saw Harry give a great big roll of his eyes.

"Well," She said in a stern voice, "How dare you restrain Harry from his mother."

The two humans stood there, petting the moose in a silence that was both awkward and bated. It held all that the things that Lily and James did and didn't want to discuss.

"So...you and Davies?" The question came out of James' mouth before he could stop it.

Lily tensed beside him before answering tersely, "Yes."

James gave a flippant shrug. "Congratulations."

Her defense was up immediately, "Look, James, I don't need an opinion."

"I never gave one." He replied stonily.

She faltered, "Well....good."

"It's just weird," James continued, wishing he could just shut up, "I mean, isn't Davies a little out of your league?"

Lily glared, dropping her hand from Harry's fur. "Meaning what?"

"Nothing. I'm just saying that Davies must be quite desperate to date a girl with no prior guy experience."

Oh, he'd done it now. James didn't know why he was even talking. He kind of just wished the Earth would swallow him up whole.

"So what?" Lily snapped. "So what if I have no experience?"

He had no control of the words coming out of his mouth anymore. All he wanted was for Lily to be single again, making her that more than possible option as a girlfriend.

"James," Lily continued in an ice tone, "What are you saying?"

"That usually, a girl that hasn't dated a boy until the age of seventeen has...well....something wrong with her."

It was meant as a joke, but the way it sounded didn't make it that way.

"Something wrong with me?" Lily's voice cracked with anger. Harry trotted away, frightened.

"Possibly." James answered coolly.

They stared at each other for a minute or so, but just as Lily opened her mouth to say something back, a cry sounded from the edge of the corral.

"JAMESIE!" A blond head of hair bobbed up and down as Angie called her boyfriend.

"Hey Angie." For once, James was glad to have a girlfriend around.

The blond climbed over the corral edge, eyeing Lily with a glare and leaning away from Harry as he nosed her hand for carrots. "I'm here now, so you wanna go grab a butterbeer?"

James took one look at Lily, whose expression of disbelief and anger was evident upon her face and said, "Sure." He took Angie's hand and the two of them walked back to Hogsmeade.

Lily watched them go and then rounded on Harry, eyes blazing.

"There's nothing wrong with me, is there Harry?" She reached out and handed him a carrot, distractedly petting his muzzle. "James is just being a prat."

The moose blinked back at her.

With a scoff, Lily hopped out of the corral, gave Harry one last carrot and started off towards the Three Broomsticks, hoping to get her mind off of things.

* * *

The minute he walked into the Pub, she saw him.

"What is he doing here?" Lily hissed, watching James and Angie take a seat at a table directly across the restaurant from her and Chase.

"What are you talking about?" Chase asked with a smile.

After staring at the couple for a second longer, Lily turned back, shaking her head. "Nothing, I just thought I saw one of the Professors. What were you saying, Chase?"

Chase continued his lecture on British Monarchy and Lily picked absentmindedly at the scratchy looking table, hardly able to believe her luck. She thought James was happy for her, but then he went off on her at the Harry Visit, and now he was here with Angie. Her head was whirring just from the thought of it.

"I need a drink." She said. "You want another butterbeer?"

Chase grinned at her. "I'll get them, Lils."

She nearly cringed. She didn't like the way Chase said Lils. It had to much of a lisp in it and not enough 'L' sound. It was all wrong.

She saw James lean over and whisper something to Angie, who giggled madly. Lily, looking for a distraction, spotted Emma and Remus sitting next to each other, talking amiably. Lily smiled and walked over.

"Hey guys."

"Hi, Lily." Emma said, smiling up at her.

"H-how are you?"

"Um...." Remus gave Lily an odd look. "Fine. And you?"

"I'm...I'm alright." She put a false smile on her face.

"Really?" Emma raised an eyebrow, glancing quickly at James; table.

"I'm fine." She said firmly.

"Ok." Emma said lightly, looking like she didn't believe Lily one bit.

"I'll er....see you guys later."

"Okay." They waved goodbye.

She sat back at her table, staring at her hands and trying not to look up. It was hard, seeing as she really wanted to see what James was doing? And what had happened to Gracie and Sirius? They had been with James at Madame Puddifoot's just sitting there and breaking up the cookies.

Feeling someone's gaze on her, she looked up quickly to find James looking at her. It was hard to look back without smiling at his hazel gaze. A second later, James had turned to his side and delivered a kiss to Angelina White, who accepted it eagerly.

Something inside Lily snapped. Chase came walking over to the table and set two drinks down it.

"Hey there," She gave her flirtiest smile and reached for both his hands, holding them under the table.

Two can play at that game, James, she thought to herself.

James obviously saw what Lily did because he started cuddling with Angie.

Lily gave Chase an 'Eskimo kiss' which her date blinked at oddly, but accepted all the same.

James went back to snogging Angie again.

Emma and Remus, who were watching this, very amused, turned to each other.

"This is better than Muggle Television." Emma said, sipping her drink.

"You said it." Remus laughed.

Suddenly, Lily grabbed Chase and pulled him in for a long kiss, which James saw in clear sight.

And that's when James snapped. He knew that Chase would have to pay for stealing his girl, and the minute he got back into the castle, he would get it big time.

"I'll see you later, Angie." James stood, wrapping his scarf around his neck.

"Where are you going, Jamesie?" She asked in her girliest voice.

"I've got...homework." He said, walking out of the restaurant.

When she heard the door of the pub slam shut, Lily pulled away from Chase with a small smile. Because no matter how much this situation was all James' fault, she knew that his girlfriend would have to be the one to pay.

"I'll see you later."She suddenly stood up and walked towards the end of the pub. "I've got to go talk to McGonagall about that essay."

"Wanna eat dinner with me later, Lily?" Chase asked.

Lily looked at him, with his mousy brown hair and blue eyes. He was nice, funny, and even a little quirky with his strangely shaped ears. She liked him. But why didn't she feel anything?

"Sure." She grinned.

The grin vanished from her face as soon as she turned around, walking out of the pub and making the trek back to the castle.

* * *

"So...."

That was as far as the dinner conversation had gotten, James' attempt to talk. But it was clear that with the slightly more than awkward behavior of everyone at their section of the Gryffindor table; it wasn't going to get better.

Gracie and Sirius sat on opposite ends of the table, neither looking up from their plate of food. Emma kept blushing at the oddest things, while Remus kept drifting off into quiet thought. Angie was the only one who was acting as normal as ever, running her fingers repeatedly through James' hair, while James stared across the Great Hall. Lily had never showed up to dinner at the Gryffindor table, seating herself at the Ravenclaw table next to Chase Davies and his friends.

Not once did she glance at James.

It was honestly the strangest dinner the Marauders and Marauderesses had. As well as the one emanating the widest range of emotions, not that anyone noticed.

But of course, this is the story of a prankwar, and therefore, the silence was not bound to last long.

There was a sudden scream from the Ravenclaw table as well as a string of curse words and Davies was hoisted ten feet in the air, suspended by nothing but his boxers. Everyone at first thought something was wrong, but once his platter of food began attacking him in the form of food bullets, they knew that the pranks were back on.

"Owww!!!!" He screamed, dangling in mid air by his boxers, which were hoisted up as if being held by an invisible hand.

Amidst the laughter, Sirius looked up from his plate and yelled, "Now THAT, is how the Marauders do an Atomic Wedgie."

The girls all hooted at the opportunity of getting to see Davies boxers, while the guys found it rather amusing that the bloke was getting pelted with bits of mashed potato and Yorkshire pudding.

James, who had his wand under the table, had no plan to let Davies down until that wedgie became permanent. This would teach the little slime ball from taking out Lily Evans again.

Speaking of the red-head, she had just whipped around and given the most ferocious glare to James, probably trying to undo the spell with her mind. She was furious, both because the prank was on Chase, and because the prank was from the Marauders.

She didn't do anything, however, but merely smiled at Angie and yelled, "Nice hair!"

The blond grabbed a mirror out of her pocket and screamed. Her hair was green, her makeup was somehow replaced with some smelly substance that looked like dragon dung, her nails were long and cracked, her face was covered in hideous acne, and her back was sprouting something that looked an awful lot like a pink pair of dragon wings.

Angie shrieked again and leaped out of her seat, drawing everyone's attention from Chase Davies to her and causing another wave of raucous laughter. Before she could all tell them to shut the hell up, she began choking on something as an object appeared in her throat. She reached in and drew out a small parchment that looked too familiar for her to be happy about.

**_Trust us; you look better this way, darling._**

**_Sincerely,_**

**_The Marauderesses_**

It took Angie all of five seconds to throw the paper at James' face with a feral scream.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" She yelled.

James couldn't even bring himself to apologize, because he was laughing so damn hard. He didn't care who the Marauderesses were, because all he knew is that they were bloody brilliant.

"You think this is funny?" The blond (or whatever you call someone with green hair) yelled again. "Fine then, James. If you can't be a supportive boyfriend, then I'm breaking up with you! I can't take this anymore! Bloody Marauderesses!"

The announcement of her prank culprits sent the Great Hall in another round of glee, including cheering and stomping. Gracie smiled into her plate while Emma coughed back her laughter.

James just sat there, still laughing.

"Ugh!" Angie stalked out of the hallway, laughter following her the whole way out.

James was laughing so hard he forgot to keep the Atomic Wedgie spell in check, which sent Davies careening towards the floor, screaming painfully.

Lily bent over him, probably offering to get him to the hospital wing. James held back the jinx he so wanted to mutter under his breath that would give Davies another wedgie as Lily locked eyes with him. Whether her eyes held a plea or a threat, James was not sure because as soon as her gaze met his, it was gone.

"A successful night of pranking, don't you think, gents?" Sirius smiled to himself. "Random, yes. But nice all the same."

"Successful, yes." Emma agreed, "But random? I have a feeling that the victims of the pranking were picked long before the pranks were decided, don't you think?"

No one responded, because they all knew what the answer was.

* * *

The Marauders and Marauderesses didn't sit with each other as usual that night in the common room. The girls kept to the right corner and the boys kept to the left. Students around the room buzzed excitedly as they discussed who they would vote for after that night's pranking.

Remus sat quietly, playing a game Wizard's Chess with Sirius as Peter munched on a bag of Bertie Botts.

Emma was reading a book, Gracie worked on her essay and Lily stared off into the fire. James copied her actions.

Sirius' grey eyes snapped from James to Lily. "Prongs, I may not be a total expert on the whole 'romancing' category, but don't you think it'd be good to go and talk to Lily?"

James flinched; that was clearly the last thing on his mind. Nevertheless, he payed heed to his nicer side, stood up and walked over to Lily.

"Hey." He ran a hand through his hair and glanced nervously at her.

"Hi." She didn't even look up from the fire.

"How is Davies?" He asked after a pause.

"He's in the hospital wing, getting his boxers removed." Lily answered, still not looking up as her lips got thinner.

Instead of apologizing, James simply turned around and walked away. Lily stood up.

"Where do you get off?" She asked angrily. "What the hell gives you the right to prank Chase?"

"The Marauders had no control over who they pranked, Lily. You're overreacting." James snapped, turning around to face her.

"Why do I have a feeling that my dating Chase has everything to do with who you pranked today?" She asked, voice rising. Sirius and Remus looked up from their game of chess.

"I don't give a damn who you date, Lily." James replied.

"Good, because Chase is my boyfriend. Got it, James?"

If she had been standing close enough to James, she might have seen that the hardening of James' eyes had a flash of pain in it, but of course Lily did not. He blinked at her for a few seconds before saying, "Got it."

The two went up to their dorms after that, because there really was no point in staying in a room with someone who you can barely stand to look at.

That night, the scoreboard ended up reading 367-360 with the Marauderesses leading, yet no members of the opposing teams could bring themselves to care.

* * *

**I know it's been ages since I updated, but I have this new policy where I actually update about once a week. I know this chapter was a little more angsty, and my attempts to make it lighthearted were pretty pathetic, but please review, vote for which prank you liked the best and tell me what you thought about this chapter on a whole. Please?**


	16. Dinosaurs & Debauchery

The Marauders stood outside in the main hallway, waiting to be let into their Transfiguration class on a breezy Monday morning in March. The scoreboard above their heads read 380-380, heightened only by the last minute bout of reviews that came from viewers of the pranks on Valentine's Day.

"It's weird." Sirius said, looking around suspiciously. "Two weeks, and not a sign from the Marauderesses. Huh, maybe they have finally given up."

"While that could be possible," Remus mused, "I doubt they would just fizzle out. The Marauderesses, if they are going to forfeit, are going to go out with a bang."

"What do you think, James?" Peter asked, watching James with his watery eyes.

James, leaning against the wall and staring off into space, just shrugged, a normal bout of speech for him these days. For the last two weeks he had been pretty much lifeless. The only moments when he showed any other emotion besides boredom were when Lily was in the room with Davies. Then he usually tensed up, and glared furiously at anyone who chanced to look at him. The girls (Emma, Gracie and Lily) weren't exactly that friendly.

Sirius shrugged, "I think they've given up. I mean, what else is there in this bloody school to prank?"

"Padfoot," Remus began, mock hurt in his voice, "I'm ashamed that you would actually think that we have nothing left to prank. Where's your spirit?"

"Oh, that's easy," Sirius jerked his finger towards James, "This one sucked it out of me with his constant moping."

James didn't even reply.

"The thing is," Sirius said, brushing off his sleeve, "We have no clue what the Marauderesses are up to, so we don't even know what we're going to do. I think-

But Sirius never got to elaborate on what he thought, because at that moment he was knocked over by a small body.

"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

It was a second year, no more than four and a half feet tall, but in such a hurry that they were able to send the six foot three Sirius toppling over.

"What the hell?" Sirius leaped up and glared at the screaming second year. "Oi! No need to scream and run in here!"

"IT'S COMING! RUN!" Another student, this time a first year, came running past them.

A whole group of first and second years sprinted past, screaming. James could have sworn that one was frothing at the mouth in its fear, but whatever.

"What's going on?" Remus whipped out his wand, switching it from one hand to the next.

"Dunno." James and Sirius pulled out their wands as well. Peter had apparently forgotten his wand in the dormitory.

And then they heard it.

BOOM.

The entire castle shook as someone, something, took a giant step.

BOOM.

The second years continued screaming and running in circles hysterically.

BOOM.

A foot as big as a small muggle car stepped into the large corridor.

BOOM.

Another foot. The Marauders squinted, trying to make out the shape of them through the throngs of running students.

CRASH.

Whatever it was had obviously pushed its way through the wall into the corridor, which James was sure Filch would be absolutely livid about until it was put together again. Nevertheless, the crash most certainly did not calm anyone down.

"Maybe we should stun the young students?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow at the still hysterical first and second years.

James shook his head. "Wait. I have a feeling what's going on."

The hunch was proved correct as a giant creature moved from the rubble of the caved in walls. Fifty feet or so in height, big, with sharp teeth, tail and all. It was most certainly not a dragon, nor was it anything ever seen in the wizarding world before.

"A tyrannosaurus rex." Remus blurted, answering everyone's silent question.

"A who?"

"It's a muggle reptile that hasn't existed on earth for millions of years."

"Oh." Sirius looked uneasily at the scaled animal, who was watching him with a beady green eye. "Is it...carnivorous?"

"Usually." Remus answered.

"Wait...." James looked at it some more. "What's that around its neck?"

It was a banner, with pink and purple writing in that familiar script, Courtesy of the Marauderesses.

The four boys gaped as the dinosaur just stood their, looking curiously but not menacingly at the students below him.

"Its name is Rexy." Peter suddenly piped up.

The other Marauders whipped around. "What are you on, Wormtail?" Sirius asked.

"It says so in the letter." Peter held forth a small piece of parchment.

James snatched it, muttering a curse under his breath as he saw the same penmanship on the letter that was on the banner around 'Rexy's' neck.

**_Dear Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs,_**

**_Salutations and good morning to you._**

**_We happened to be feeling a bit under the weather today, so we thought that we'd give you guys a little gift and let you all know that we have not given up, as much as you would like to think so. As you know, exams are nearing and we're making sure to remain the top students in our class, so it was hard to put it together, but here it is, our prank. His name is Rexy, and he doesn't like eating meat. He enjoys waffles._**

**_The only question now is, where do we go from here, boys? Will you have a responding prank?_**

**_Hoping you are well._**

**_Sincerely,_**

**_The Marauderesses_**

**_Midnight, Freckles and Frown_**

"I can't believe this." James shook his head. "Where the bloody hell did they manage to get a dinosaur and fit it in the school? HOW DID THEY DO IT?"

"Beats me." Sirius shrugged, walking forward. He stood happily in front of the t-rex with a smile. "Hey Rexy!"

The dinosaur brought its giant head down to Sirius' level, making the younger students cower again.

"Want some waffles?" Sirius asked in a goo-goo voice.

The dinosaur, instead of snapping up Sirius like a morning snack, touched its big nose to Sirius' head.

"Hey!" He shouted gleefully. "It likes me!"

And that it did. The dinosaur seemed quite fond of humans just as any other domesticated animal would. Ten minutes after it appeared, children were climbing all over it, seeing as it had made itself comfortable by taking a seat in the middle of the corridor. The Marauders were in the middle of an attempt to slide down its back when Professor McGonagall came storming out into the hallway.

"Why isn't anyone in my class?" She shrieked. "I don't have enough time to let you all go....oh." She caught sight of the dinosaur and visibly wilted in all of her anger.

"Hey McGonagall!" Sirius cried, sliding down the back of Rexy. "You have got to try this out!"

McGonagall's hawk-like eyes went from the dinosaur, to Sirius, to the banner on Rexy's neck in a matter of two seconds before narrowing dangerously.

"No thank you, Mr. Black." She sniffed. "But you can all kindly get off that dinosaur."

"It doesn't eat meat." Remus said happily, having just slid down the dragon himself.

"Nevertheless," McGonagall said through gritted teeth, "Get. Off."

All students got off at those two words mixed in with a very threatening tone.

"We'll get to the bottom of this." She said. "EVERYONE GO BACK TO YOUR CLASSES!"

"You see, that's the thing, professor." James said slowly, stepping forward from the crowd of students. "This dinosaur has half the school blocked off from us, meaning none of the students can get to class."

McGonagall blinked once, twice, at all the students crowded in the hallway. The she suddenly looked very tired.

"Fine." She said. "You will stay right here. I am going to get Dumbledore."

Professor McGonagall walked off, and to some it may have actually looked like she was laughing.

* * *

Classes were cancelled for the day as the teachers all tried to figure a way to get rid of the dinosaur and Filch practically cried himself to sleep over the mess of rubble left in the main corridor.

Instead of heading outside like they would on any off-day for a game of quidditch, the Marauders found themselves in the library.

"There has to be SOMETHING we can do," Sirius said frantically, flipping through a book titled 'Universal Pranks'. "I mean, we can't be out of ideas, because....well...we just can't!"

"Relax." James snapped. "We'll be fine." Today was one of the first days that James had actually started to show vigor in anything, but maybe that was just because they had to win this prankwar or bust. But whatever it was that was inspiring him to work doubly hard at everything, his friends didn't want it to go away ever.

"Hey, Moony," James started, "How's the letter going?"

"To the Marauderesses?"

James nodded.

Remus sighed, amber eyes scanning his parchment. "Alright. But the fact that we have to bluff and pretend that we have an idea is pretty pathetic, you know that, right?"

Sirius snorted, "We can't let those condescending demons know that we don't have a plan. The Marauders always have a plan."

It was Peter's time to snort, "Since when?"

Sirius didn't answer, merely punching Peter in the shoulder.

"Whatever the reasons, we need to bluff and assure everyone that we know what to do." James said, taking the book Sirius was looking at himself. "I wish we had an idea, because having NO IDEAS certainly sucks arse."

"They need a distraction." Sirius stated simply.

"Like waffles!" Peter jumped up excitedly. Madame Pince shushed him.

"Something that will have them entertained or something that might throw them off course."

"Like waffles!" Peter huffed.

Sirius punched him again.

"We don't need a distraction," Remus began, writing more on the letter, "What we need is a way to find out who the Marauderesses are. We need to gain information."

"That's ridiculous, no one would--" James stopped, an idea dawning on him.

It was clear that the same idea donned on the rest of his friends, for they all started whispering excitedly.

Across the room, Gracie Harlow leaned over and asked, "Emma, what do you think they're whispering about?"

"Probably another prank, I don't know." Emma bent over her essay questions. "They're up to something, Grae, they always are."

Lily didn't add any thought on the subject, remaining engrossed in her book.

"Well," Gracie leaned her head on her hand, "I've been doing some eavesdropping and have reason to believe that we are very much liked today."

Lily smiled, tucking some red hair behind her head, "How so?"

"Oh, nothing," Said Gracie airily, "Only something about how the Marauderesses have the most kick arse pranks in the whole school."

"That we do, that we do." Lily laughed. She had been rather distant for the last two weeks, even if it was a little ridiculous of her to be so, what with her new boyfriend and all. Gracie and Emma never confronted Lily about it, because the furtive and often wistful glances she would sometimes cast in the Marauders direction said it all.

"I'm in a rather good mood today." Gracie announced, leaning back in her chair, folding her hands behind her head. "I can't believe that we're doing so well with the prankwar."

"Even if it was a last minute idea." Emma smiled, sweeping a hand through her dark hair.

"Now we wait for the Marauders to make their move." Lily said quietly.

At the word 'Marauders' the table got quiet. Gracie looked down, glaring at her book. Emma blushed. Lily cringed.

Suddenly, James and the rest of his group stood up and yelled, "HEY! COULD WE PLEASE HAVE EVERYONE'S ATTENTION?"

Of course, as always the case when the Marauders asked for attention, the students in the library gave it.

"Thank you." James smiled goofy. "We'd like to announce that we are holding a booth outside on the grounds. Anyone with free information about the Marauderesses can come, give it, and then receive a free kiss from Marauder of their choice, or they can get a galleon."

The girl population of the library (minus Lily, Gracie and Emma) all started giggling and muttering amongst each other, clearly overjoyed by the opportunity to kiss the hottest boys in the school.

"We'll be outside...so be free to follow!" James grinned.

It was clear to everyone that this was important, so a loud line of jabbering students lined up after the Marauders to leave the library, ignoring Madame Pince's angry screeches.

The three girls sat in there seats, looking a little more than shocked than normal.

"Should we follow?" Lily looked too eager and too uneasy at the same time.

Emma nodded slowly. "It'll good to get behind enemy lines, to make sure that nothing is going wrong and that no one is turning in actually valid information."

Behind enemy lines.

It sounded ominous just thinking about it, yet the Marauderesses walked out of the library all the same.

* * *

"I saw the Marauderesses." Some fifth year hufflepuff said, giggling madly.

"What did they look like?" Sirius asked sternly, writing down the information on a notepad.

The girl froze, looking a little confused. "They...er...they had long hair....and they were girls...and they were carrying wands." She paused, smiling. "Can I have my kiss now?"

Sirius gritted his teeth and pressed a pick to the girl's lips, after which she squealed and ran away to go squeal some more with her friends.

"Anything helpful?" Remus asked tiredly.

"Yep." His tone was very sarcastic. "According to her, they're girls, they have long hair, and they carry wands. I never even knew." Sirius sat with a huffy sigh beside his friend.

"This is hopeless."

"No it's not." James said forcefully, still standing and listening to everyone's reports with eager ears.

"Yes, it is." Sirius said flatly, sitting up a little straighter.

James glared. "You only say that because the only girls you've ever gotten information from were fifth year and under."

Sirius shrugged. "Maybe our attempts are useless. I have a feeling that these Marauderesses may even be good at the game they play."

"What do you mean?" Asked Peter, his mouth full of chocolate covered pretzels from Honeydukes.

It was three or so in the afternoon, and people had been lined up at the Marauderess-Ransom booth for hours. Yet the Marauders them selves had gained about a thimbleful of useful information. James hated to admit it to himself, but it was pretty useless to do this.

"Remus, did you send the letter to them?"

His friend nodded, closing his eyes and leaning against the birch tree with a sigh.

"Then they should be getting it right now."

Suddenly, Remus and Sirius were sitting bolt upright.

"And opening it." Came the end of James' thought.

In mere seconds they scanned the area of students crowded all over the lawn and around the lake. There was no one reading a letter, nor was there a group of three girls that looked suspicious. But it was obvious that most of the Hogwarts's student body was out here....so where were the Marauderesses?

"Oh My God." Remus gasped, pointing to the other side of the lake.

Sirius and James turned.

"It's another letter." Lily said quietly, taking the parchment out of her pocket where it had appeared.

"Read it, please." Gracie demanded, dipping her feet lightly in the icy lake.

Glancing around slowly, Lily slid her finger up under the envelope seal and unfolded the letter.

"Dear Marauderesses," She began, "It's nice to hear from you. We enjoyed your prank this morning, but have to say that compared to our prank, it's a little below the standard. Our prank is good. Really good. It's the best prank in the world. Have a nice day, and remember to work on your penmanship, because it's always hard for us to read these letters, you know. Sincerely, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs."

"A big prank..." Lily said faintly, scanning over the letter again and biting her lip.

"Not good news, I believe." Gracie said, taking the letter from Lily's hands and reading it herself.

"How big will the prank be, you think?" Lily asked.

"As big as it needs to be." Gracie answered. "Remember, their brains are rather small, so their size perception may be a little off."

Emma stared off at the other side of the lake, as a familiar group of people came running towards them....

"Give me that." She answered, grabbing the letter and the envelope from Gracie's hands.

"Alright! No need to be hasty!" The brunette said testily.

Emma didn't answer, her violet eyes narrowed in concentration as she bent over the parchment. She muttered a few words and the letters on the page suddenly jumped around under the touch of her wand, the shape of the writing changing is well into a more graceful script.

"What are you doing?" Lily hissed.

Emma handed the letter back to Lily and promptly started giggling madly. "Oh Lily, how sweet of him to send that!"

What the hell are you talking about? The question was on the tip of both Gracie and Lily's tongues as they gave Emma a bewildered look, but the words were never voiced.

"Ah ha!" Sirius cried, bounding over to them. "Hand it over, you yellow bellied idjits!"

Gracie and Lily's bewildered look went from Emma to Sirius, who was standing over them with a triumphant smile.

"Hand what over?" Emma asked, innocently looking at him.

"Yellow bellied idjits?" Gracie almost laughed, if she had any idea what was going on.

"You know very well what you need to hand over!" James puffed, coming up beside Sirius with Remus and Peter in tow. "You're the Marauderesses! You're reading the letter we sent you!"

"And now..." Sirius crouched in a battle stance, "Prepare to meet your doom!" He promptly tackled down Gracie, who screamed as they started to tumble off the edge of the earth and into the lake.

"Oh..." Emma burst into another bout of giggling. "We're just looking at the letter that Chase sent Lily."

Lily glanced at the parchment in her hands, which indeed was the letter that Chase had passed her that morning before History of Magic. It told her that he was thinking about her and that she should have dinner with him that night.

"Isn't it just the most romantic thing?" Emma sighed, nudging Lily and trying to get her to work with her. "Sending a love letter to Lily?"

"It was sweet." Lily said, adding an extra blush as she finally caught on to the hoax. "I couldn't believe he would do that."

In the lake, drenched in water, Gracie was attempting to strangle Sirius, cursing him to oblivion.

"Let me see the letter, then." Remus stepped forward and held out his hand. Avoiding his eyes, Emma passed the letter into his hands.

After a minute of reading, Remus nodded. "It's the truth. This is certainly not the letter we sent to the Marauders."

Gracie let out a 'HA!' from where she was and then went back to seeking revenge on Sirius.

James looked at the letter from over Remus' shoulder, giving it a disgusted glance once he read the romantic contents of it. He didn't like the idea of someone else romancing Lily.

"Fine. It's real." James glared obstinately at the ground, even when Lily tried to catch his eye. "Let's go back inside and close up the booth."

"By the way," Emma said, "Good luck with finding them. The Marauderesses, I mean."

"DIE, SIRIUS, DIE!" Gracie screamed as she dunked her victims head repeatedly in the Black Lake. She was sitting on top of him, and the way he was sitting below her, it was impossible that he would actually be drowning anytime soon.

"For you," Sirius gasped, "I'd die thousand deaths."

Gracie suddenly stopped and gave him an odd look. "Stop that."

"Stop what?"

"Stop acting like the valiant lover." She snapped, jumping off him and stepping out of the lake.

He stood too, and she pushed him down back into the water. "You prat! I'm soaked now! I'm going to die of the flu!"

"Oh, get over it." He tried to sound irritated as well, but there was no mistaking the smile on his face.

Lily and Emma raised their eyebrows at Gracie and Sirius as James and Remus poured over the letter some more.

"It's a fake, for sure." Remus sighed, defeat written in his voice.

"Now, can I have my letter back please?" Lily asked politely, holding out her hand expectantly.

"Here." Remus handed it back to Lily with a smile as James simply glared. "We'll see you later. C'mon Sirius, quit playing around."

With a wolfish grin, Sirius mussed up Gracie's hair, ducked her punch, and followed his friends, who were already walking off.

Lily looked at the letter and smiled at Emma once the Marauders had left. "Brilliant spell work, Em. And quick thinking."

"Thanks." Emma smiled lightly. "I'm just happy we weren't caught."

"So am I." Gracie said grumpily, wrapping her arms around herself as she shivered violently.

Lily laughed, standing up and offering her jacket to Gracie. "Let's go get you changed, Frown."

Gracie smiled, despite her rather spoiled mood. "Right-O, Freckles."

* * *

"I can't believe she did that with him." Emma gasped. "Talk about a girl with no brains and no morals."

"I agree." Gracie nodded, happily clothed in her pajamas and not caring if it wasn't dress code.

"But you'd think that they would have done it someplace else then in the bloody library!" Lily laughed incredulously, spooning some soup into her mouth.

James glanced between the three of them and then looked his friends. "Do you guys have any idea what they're talking about?" He was in no mood to ask the girls themselves, seeing as that would mean facing Lily.

"Nope." Sirius answered bouncily. "I never try to understand the gibbering of the female sex."

Gracie, hearing that purposefully loud sentence, flicked a hunk of rice at his head.

"It's just sad." Lily continued. "I think that girls are too prone to debauchery. It's too easy to get seduced what with these sex-crazed boys."

"Debauchery?" James raised an eyebrow

"Excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures." Lily snapped, a little too much edge to her voice.

James sat still for a moment and then jumped up, leaping like a hyper five year old. "I've got it!"

"Got what?" Lily asked.

"Got milk?" Sirius piped up.

"NO!" James bellowed. He grabbed the sleeves of his three partners in pranking and yanked them out of the great hall, just as dinner began to start.

"I know what we're going to do for a prank!" He said excitedly as the four of them ended up in the hallway.

"What?" Remus asked, trying to get James to calm down from his spazz attack.

"We're going to create our form of debauchery!" He laughed.

Remus, Peter and Sirius stared blankly at James.

"C'mon you guys, don't you get it?!" James yelled in their faces, eyes glowing with excitement.

"Er...no, not really." Peter answered.

"Ugh." James ran an agitated hand through his hair. "Well, I'll explain on the way."

He grabbed their sleeves and yanked them after him again.

"On the way to where?!" Sirius yelped.

James gave his friends a rather mad smile and answered, "The potions lab. We're going to dip a little bit into Slughorn's stash of supplies."

Still not understanding, Moony, Padfoot and Wormtail followed Prongs, wondering if this was going too far.

Because you really never could tell exact sanity level of James Potter, you know.

* * *

Another day went by, and Lily did not go un-noticing of the Marauders odd behavior. At least one of them excused themselves from class about three times every class to 'go to the bathroom' when clearly, they had emptied their bladders enough. She didn't voice her observations of their odd behavior to Gracie or Emma, because Gracie was still seething about getting tackled into the lake by Sirius and Emma would never truly listen.

The Marauders didn't even show up to breakfast or lunch that day, something that both concerned and worried Lily, and she sat at the table with Chase, trying to stick a convincing smile on her face that could fool him.

The four boys finally did turn up for dinner, and Lily's face practically lit up the whole room, much to her friend's smug knowledge.

"Sorry we're late." Remus slid in his seat next to Lily. "Homework."

The red head raised an eyebrow but otherwise said nothing.

"Let me guess, working on your prank?" Emma smiled knowingly.

"Of course not." Sirius scoffed, wedging himself between Lily and Gracie. "We've had that down for a while, but we've been waiting for the right moment."

"Like now?" Emma asked coolly.

"Possibly, Em." James smiled at her.

The girls shared a glance. "Should we avoid the food?"

"Unless you're a boy, there's no reason to." James answered soothingly.

Another suspicious glance and they went back to their food. James flicked his hazel eyes over to Lily, who was purposefully staring at her fork with fascinated interest. He stared at her for longer than necessary and when she looked up to meet his eyes, the moment lasted too long to go unnoticed by both of their friends. But no one said a word.

"Here we go...." Sirius said.

About a millisecond later, several people rose from the Slytherin table across the hall. Severus Snape walked ahead of them, headed straight for the teacher's table. He walked down the table, ignoring the teacher's faces of shock, and stopped in front of Professor McGonagall's table.

"Minerva!" He cried in a voice much too loud and boisterous for everyone in the hall NOT to hear. "MINERVA! Be mine! I love you Minerva!"

Professor McGonagall just blinked, astounded, at Severus before spluttering, "S-snape, what are you talking about? Go back to your seat before I take away house points."

But it was too late, the damage was clearly done, whatever the damage was.

Lucius Malfoy skipped gaily over to Lily, got down on one knee and cried, "Lily Evans, be my heart and soul. Marry Me!"

Lily gaped for a few minutes, shared a quick glance with her friends and the Marauders, and burst out laughing. She was laughing so hard that tears poured down her face.

"You've got to be kidding me," She wheezed, "You got the Slytherins to all fall in love?"

"Hey," Sirius said defensively, "Those Slytherin's hearts are hard to melt. We spent all day on that potion."

Bryce Bullstrode ran to Emma and cried her name, "Take me on the floor, Emmaline! I love you so much!"

It was then that the remainder of the Slytherin boys got up to serenade a girl of their choice in the Hall. And all the girls just laughed in their faces. A few people stood up and shouted, "Nice job, Marauders!"

James smiled and shouted back, "Thanks!"

It was clear who was going to have that weeks lead in the prankwar. The dinosaur may have been inventive, but it was nothing compared to having all the Slytherins attempting to seduce someone. It was sheer genius.

But when Snape leaned over the Teacher's table and tried to kiss McGonagall on the lips, the fun was over. She pulled out her wand in a flash and stunned everyone in the room that was attempting to seduce someone else. She then transported the knocked out Slytherins to the Hospital Wing, looking nothing less than livid as she passed the Marauders, who waved nervously.

"We're dead." James laughed to himself. "We may win the prankwar with that beautiful prank, but as soon as it's over, we're dead."

Lily looked over, giving James a smile that made his heart throb just a little in his chest. But as soon as he was just starting to enjoy it, it was gone, and she was talking to her friends again.

* * *

Lily climbed in her bed in the Girls Dorm. It had been a while since she had slept in the Head's Room, that being because she liked being away from James so he wouldn't conflict her.

"I think we could have done better." She sighed. Lily didn't like having a prank that didn't measure up to the Marauders. She felt rather sick about the fact that they were sure to lose that week's round of pranking.

"I think it was fine." Emma said softly, seating herself on her own bed. "We have other obligations you know, Lils. Homework. Head's Duties."

Lily cringed. Head's Duties had been a nightmare, what with her and James' silences.

"I think that we deserve a chance to pull a bad prank." Gracie sighed. "We've been working like dogs these last two weeks to get that dinosaur perfect."

"But it wasn't good enough!" Lily cried. "There was no reason we shouldn't have come up with a prank that was better than his."

"Do you hear yourself, Lily?!" Emma asked, her voice rising. Whether her voice was rising because she was actually angry or because she was trying to drown out the Marauder's celebration partying next door, the red head wasn't sure. "We don't need to let this prank war drive us crazy, and you know that!"

"No, I don't know that!"Lily cried, standing up. "All I know is that I need to win this so I can quit looking at James Potter and worrying what his team is up to!"

"Here you go about James again!" Gracie yelled, standing up as well. "Why can't you just admit that you like him and quit being such an emotionally blocked ninny?"

"What about you?" Lily poked Gracie in the shoulder. "Everyone knows that you didn't just kiss Sirius to spite yourself on Christmas. You're the one who's emotionally blocked, Grace!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"SHUT UP!" Emma screamed, making the two of them jump. "Just stop talking, both of you. This isn't any of our faults directly. We're all to blame together."

Gracie and Lily didn't answer.

"Look at us," Emma said, "We're falling apart over nothing."

Lily rolled her eyes, "Emma, no over dramatic speeches, please."

"Yes, Lily," Emma grinned, "Over dramatic speeches are necessary right now."

Suddenly, the school intercom crackled to life and McGonagall's voice rang over the school. "I think that everyone is aware of the Hogwarts Prankwar that is occurring right now. This message is to the Marauderesses: as soon as this war is over, you and the Marauders will spend the remaining amount of Sundays in detention, understood? Since you are unwilling to turn yourselves in, detention for the rest of the year is inevitable. That is all."

The intercom went silent. The Marauders partied louder.

"Now," Emma continued, "Lack of communication is the only reason that this isn't working. Look, we need to start telling each other things again. Okay?"

Lily nodded, and then sighed. "I think I might love James Potter."

Gracie snorted, "No surprises there." Emma shot her a warning look.

The brunette sighed. "I kissed Sirius because I wanted to know what all those slags were talking about when they said he was an excellent kisser." She gulped. "They were, unfortunately, right."

Emma smiled at Gracie and then blurted. "I went on a date with Remus Lupin, we kissed, but it was really awkward and I figured I only liked him as a friend."

The three girls stood there staring at each other.

"Wow." Lily said. "I feel like a crappy friend."

"Well, we'll just pay more attention to each other, shall we?" Gracie grinned.

"One question remains." Emma sighed. "Do we keep it up? The prankwar? Clearly, we'll need more than two measly weeks to study for N.E.W.T.S."

The Marauderesses stood for a moment, thinking quietly.

"I think we should." Lily said, smiling slightly. "We're sort of a symbol of hope for girls right now. We can't let them down."

"Nor can we let the boys think we're weak." Gracie added, gritting her teeth.

"Then that's settled." Emma said. "Marauderesses now, Marauderesses forever."

She put her hand out in the middle. "And as an end to my over dramatic speech, I think we need to have a handshake."

Gracie added her hand, rolling her eyes. "Of course, Midnight."

Lily smiled hugely and placed her hand on top. "I agree."

They threw their hands up in the air, and for a moment, the mood lightened. But then a bunch of cheers from next door wiped the grins off the girls' faces.

"Well, there's no use in staying up late to plan next weeks prank. Let's just hit the sack." Gracie yawned, glaring at the wall that stood between her and the partying Marauders.

"Alright."

The girls climbed into their beds. The yelling and hooting continued for several more minutes. Gracie sighed and stood.

"Shall we go and knock them out with some stunners?" She asked, wondering if her friends were even awake.

"Sure, why not?" Emma and Lily answered.

Gracie smiled bigger than ever. "Oh yes, the Maraudereses are most definitely back."

And with that, Midnight, Freckles and Frown left the dorm to take care of their obnoxious, partying opponents.

* * *

** A/N: Sorry for the wait on this chapter!** **Only three chapters left to write! Please review this chapter and vote! And check out my profile poll!**


	17. Leprechauns & Lackeys

"According to this letter," Lily began, tapping her finger against a piece of parchment with the Marauder's scrawl on it, "Their pranks this week will be small things all at once. They suggest we get out of the great hall before the first one starts."

Gracie glanced around at the full breakfast hall, as if expecting an assassin to pop out of nowhere with a knife in hand. "When you say get out of the great hall, do you mean now? Or later? Because I don't know about you, but these are the best damn pancakes I've ever had."

It should be mentioned that said pancakes were green. Every food item at the table was green. It was, after all, St. Patrick's Day.

Emmaline rolled her eyes and returned to her cup of (green) tea. "I wouldn't worry. They can't do much for a prank. At least, it won't be as good as ours."

"By the way," Lily said quietly, smiling to her friends, "Happy St. Patrick's Day."

As Emma and Gracie looked up from their food to return the greeting, both of their eyes narrowed.

"Trouble in testosterone form at twelve o clock." Emma stated blandly, returning to her tea.

Gracie stabbed viciously at her pancakes while Lily sat as still as possible, as if trying to make herself invisible.

Sirius and James walked forward, looking rather bouncy.

"Good morning, ladies!" They shouted cheerfully.

Sirius swooped down and pinched Gracie on the cheek.

"OW!" Her first reaction was to swing her fist around and punch him. "What the bloody hell was that about?"

"You're not wearing green." He said flatly, grey eyes twinkling as he reached forward to pinch Emma as well, who promptly chucked a biscuit at him.

"You're not wearing green either." The brunette pointed out sullenly, a smile growing on her face as she reached out to pinch Sirius.

"You haven't asked to see my underwear, have you, now, Gracie?"

Grace glared and turned back to her pancakes.

"How come Lily doesn't get pinched?" Emma whined, while Lily stuck out her tongue childishly.

"That's obvious," James cut in, "She doesn't need to get pinched because of her eyes." He glanced wearily at the back of Lily's head, but she neither moved nor made any motion to speak to him at all.

"Where is the rest of the gang?" Emma asked tonelessly.

"Getting the prank ready." Sirius yawned, wedging himself in the seat next to Lily and Gracie. "Though I think Pete is still sleeping."

"Hey, Lils!" Chase jogged over to their table. "Happy St. Patty's Day."

"Thanks Chase," The red head said, beaming and ignoring James, who had seated himself directly opposite of her, "We're still on for the Library tonight, right?"

"I wouldn't miss a study session with you if my feet and arms were missing." Chase winked. James mimed gagging, much to Sirius' amusement.

Remus came jogging up to the table, seating himself next to James. "Prank is ready."

"Good," James snapped, "Because I've already chosen my next victim." He glared murderously as Davies leaned over and pecked Lily on the mouth.

"Is that honestly a good idea, mate?" Sirius whispered, leaning across the table. Gracie watched with mild interest at this exchange. "I mean, you've already established the 'we're-no-longer-friends' deal with Evans, but is it necessary to go all this way to piss her and her boyfriend off?"

It was too late, of course. James was already muttering under his breath, his wand pointed from under the table at the back of Davies's retreating figure, hand in hand with Lily.

Students who had been looking towards the Marauder's general direction might have seen that cream puff fly by, but what most of the students saw simply consisted of the SPLAT sound of the cream puff meeting the back of Davies's head.

What seemed like an eternity later, Lily flipped her wand out and made the cream puff vanish from her boyfriend's head.

And then continued to send a bowl of raspberry jam at James Potter, who wasn't even able to dodge some of the sticky red substance.

Gracie, inspired by the true madness written in the air, took the contents of her pancakes and dumped them on Sirius' lap. To which he poured pumpkin juice on her hair.

After this exchange, the hall erupted into chaos.

As was planned originally, of course.

It wasn't even the students that instigated the food fight itself. No, it was the fact that the food seemed to be revolting of its own accord against the humans. Pelting left and right, haphazardly landing on everyone in plain view. No inch of exposed skin was not touched by some edible object.

In the middle of it all, Lily had last all sense of dignity and decided to devote herself to covering James in whatever food was in reach at the moment. He didn't hesitate either, dumping pitcher after pitcher on her head. Grape juice, tea, milk, her hair was changing colors alarmingly fast. Chase stood behind Lily, looking uncertainly at the nearly beside herself red head, who was looking honestly pissed off.

The teachers and staff sat at their long table, almost dumbfounded as the entire school, first years through seventh years, went bonkers, covering each other in food left and right.

Of course it was a prank, everyone knew that, and made mental notes to vote for the Marauders because food fights like this one never ever happen.

"How dare you!" Lily shouted throughout the tumult of screams and squeals. "I'm so sick of your childishness James!" She stuffed a handful of whip cream onto his head, smearing it around.

"I'm childish?!" The now white haired James shouted. "I'M CHILDISH?! Who was the one to throw a hissy fit because her boyfriend got a cream puff in his hair?"

"At least I've got the dignity to respect my friend's choices to date someone, even if that choice was the most tasteless one in the history of dating choices!" Her rant was stopped for a moment as he shoved a syrupy pancake down her shirt.

"Are you saying I make poor choices in who I date?" James roared, ignoring her as she chucked several crackers at him and dodged his hurled fruitcake.

"I'm merely saying that maybe if you weren't such a right prick, you might find a nice, un slaggish girl who will like you for you!"

"ENOUGH!!!!!" McGonagall's shriek rang throughout the hallway and with a flick of her wand, the food all stopped moving in mid air and fell to the floor.

She was livid, that much was clear. It was a maddening sort of livid. Her eyes were wide and her lips were pressed so thin they might not have been there.

"Everyone, go to your classes." She said quietly and clearly. "No one is allowed showers until the end of the day. Students absent from class or late to class because they were showering will be given a detention. You will hopefully learn a lesson from all this."

"The Headmaster is absent, but I assure you all that Marauders and Marauderesses will be punished most heavily when this prankwar is over, am I clear?" Her cat like eyes traveled over every one of the boys and even the girls, but only slightly.

Everyone in the hall nodded and shuffled off to class. Lily sneered once at James before proudly walking with Emma and Gracie out of the hall. With her chin held high, it was impossible to tell that her eyes were watering.

* * *

"Ugh," Gracie groaned, "Now I know how a waffle feels when it's been dunked in syrup."

"At least you don't have a smell combination of milk and jam." Lily moaned, un-sticking two jam-sealed pages of her text book.

It was a rather comical picture, the entire class covered in one substance or another. No one had taken a shower, and a rather unpleasant smell was starting to waft everyone's nostrils, much to their chagrin.

"Good prank though," Emma said, taking notes down from the board, "Almost as good ours."

The girl's prank had been revealed at the beginning class, when everyone was asked to open their textbooks. It turned out that every time a book, door, window, or object of any sort was opened, a jolly leprechaun popped out, singing rather raunchy and inappropriate songs at whoever owned said opened object. It was amusing enough, especially when the leprechauns exploded ten seconds after their appearing.

"True. But I hate the feeling of sitting in raspberry flavored underwear." Gracie grunted sourly, slamming her stuff on the desk.

"What's this about raspberry flavored underwear?" Sirius popped up suddenly, leaning over Gracie's s shoulder like a towel on a clothesline.

"Just go away." The brunette groaned. "Leave. Me. Alone."

"No can do, Gracie. Plus, you'll want me around some day, just you wait." Sirius grinned, chucking her under the chin.

"I believe the fact that I dumped my breakfast's contents on your lap this morning speaks for itself."

Emma turned to Sirius, whose grey eyes were nearly dancing with merriment as Gracie glared furiously at him. It was the middle of charms class, and she couldn't very well reach out and introduce her first to his face. "Is there any way of knowing when this insane prankwar is going to end?"

"I believe the Marauderesses said they were going to propose a final end date, because it ended too soon before exams." He shrugged, "But that doesn't mean it ever truly has to win. Because once we kick some girly arse, it'll be pranks for the Marauders non stop."

"Psh, says you." Gracie said, before opening her text book in his face, laughing out loud (much to Professor Flitwick's disgruntlement) when a small, swearing, leprechaun came soaring out onto Sirius' face.

"What?" Peter leaned over his desk as well. "You don't think we'll win?"

"No offense, Wormtail," Lily cut in, "But no one usually expects boys to win in any contests that require a maximum amount of intelligence."

"Gryffindors quit the chatter now!" Flitwick chirped as he bustled over to show some poor Ravenclaw how to perfect his heating charm. Sirius and Peter sat up properly in their seats, expressions of innocence written on their faces clear as day.

The moment Flitwick turned his back, Sirius was right at Gracie's ear again, "Rubbish. This isn't some sort of exam we're taking to compete. This is pranking, Grace my love. I wouldn't worry about us much."

"Do you want me to open this book again in your face again?" The brunette seethed, looking at her notes with alarming venom.

"No need to get those raspberry flavored knickers in a twist, alright Gracie?"

Making sure Flitwick was occupied, Gracie whipped around and opened her text book again, sending another foul mouthed leprechaun to attack him.

James, who was sitting directly behind Lily but really trying not to make any contact with her whatsoever, stared off into space. He was so far off in his daze that he almost missed the letter than appeared on the edge of his desk.

"Sirius..." He was already unwrapping it. "The Marauderesses wrote back."

Leprechaun successfully thrown off his face, Sirius sat back up in his seat and looked at James. "We can't open it here. Remus is in Arithmacy and we need to read it as a group."

"Need a distraction, boys?" Emma and Gracie, bearing smirks on their faces, were already prepared to make ruckus.

"Please and thank you." James nodded.

Emma glanced pleadingly at Lily, who, after a moment's consideration and a quick glance at an indifferent glance at James, whispered something and swished her wand three times. All the text books in the rooms slapped open, and twenty three leprechauns popped out, barreling forward and rendering chaos.

Ink bottles were smashed and hair was pulled and ears were screamed into.

In ten seconds, the green little beasties vanished and Flitwick tried in vain to get everyone under control as three quarters of the Marauders slipped out the classroom door.

* * *

"I'm telling you, these girls, or guys, have got the right idea." Sirius said, spreading the letter out flat on the desk. "Ending the prankwar on April fool's day, it's brilliant. Everyone expects big pranks. We can give them the best of the best."

"Shhh!!! No talking in the Library." Madame Pince hissed.

The four boys ignored her.

"I'm not sure," Remus said uneasily, "That means we only have about two weeks or so to plan the biggest amount of pranks ever seen in magical history. And for all we know, the Marauderesses could already have theirs ready."

"But in substance, it's a good idea." James agreed with Sirius. "Right?"

"Regardless of good idea or not," Remus said, glancing at his watch, "We need to get to the Quidditch pitch for practice. We'll discuss this later, alright?"

"What about showers?" Peter whined. "I've got cottage cheese in my ear."

"We'll shower later, Wormy." Sirius said reassuringly, patting his friend on the back. "Now c'mon, we've got some quaffles to throw and catch."

James stood up, gathered his stuff and started to follow his friends, but stopped, his eye catching on a patch of red hair hidden deep within the library amongst the many study tables.

"Oi!" Sirius stage whispered. "Prongs, let's go! Practice!"

Some unknown force was pulling James towards the end of that library, right to where that patch of red hair sat.

"Prongs!" Madame Pince eyed Sirius with loathing.

"I'll catch up with you guys." James stage whispered back, not really sure why he was saying these things. He was mad with her, he knew that, so why was he finding himself taking time to go and talk to her?

"But Prongs...."

"Leave it, Sirius." Remus grabbed his friend's arm as he started to walk towards James. "He's clearly got business to take care of."

"I-..." Sirius cut off as he too saw the patch of red hair. "Oh." He looked back at James and shrugged. "Do what you need to do, mate. But I'm so going to laugh and say I told you so when we're looking at your mangled body."

"I just need to talk to her," James said, glancing back at Lily, who had no idea he was there. "I'll be to practice on time, I swear."

Sirius looked perplexedly at his friend, who was clearly suicidal at this point. "Well," He sniffed, "Good luck with THAT."

James smirked and waved his friends farewell, nodding curtly as he walked by an extremely irate Madame Pince.

"Sorry for talking." He murmured.

"If you do it again, I can assure you will be removed from this library." She spat, as a means of accepting his apology, cold blue eyes following him as he headed for the study tables.

Ducking behind a shelf, James watched Lily, sitting daintily at her desk. She seemed to be waiting for someone, and it was with a dagger like pain that James realized she was waiting for Davies. Her boyfriend.

James ran a hand through his hair, something he hadn't done in weeks, and smiled in spite of himself.

_Well,_ He told his conscience, _here goes nothing._

_Like Sirius said, good luck._

_Hey, I don't need your input. Go away._

_Yeah, yeah._

His legs moved where his brain would not and before he could stop himself, James was slipping into the seat beside Lily, who visibly stiffened as soon as she saw his mop of dark hair.

James reached over and snatched a piece of parchment out of his own bag and scribbled something down on it.

**Hi Lily.**

She threw the paper back. Blank.

He tried again.

**How are you?**

No reply.

**You look.....uncomfortable.**

She raised an eyebrow at this but said nothing, quickly scribbling her first reply.

**_Well, not to sound vague, but one does tend to feel and look uncomfortable when they're soaked with every sort of breakfast food imaginable. It's just a normal fact of life._**

At last, success.

**About that....I want to talk to you.**

The paper hit him straight on in the face, and she didn't even have to throw it at him, they were sitting so close.

**_What the bloody hell could you want now? Come to make fun of Chase? Or, better me? Save it, James._**

**Well, that was quaint.**

**_You're still here? Did I not make it clear I want you to leave?_**

**Can I just explain, please?**

**_............_**

**Is that a yes?**

**_No. That's a you-have-ten-seconds-to-explain._**

Ignoring Madame Pince's rather menacing warning, James forgot the note and looked up at Lily for the first time. She wasn't smiling, and she wasn't frowning. Her expression was impassive, the way it always was when James wished it wasn't.

"I'm sorry." He whispered it in a rush.

"And?" She showed no intention of forgiving him.

"I just..." James trailed off. What could he say? The truth? As if she'd believe him when he described the perilous amount of jealousy that raged in his stomach every time she so much as looked at Davies.

"I was sort of unwilling to let my best friend have another guy to spend time with." It was sort of stretching the truth, but he bit the rest of the story back anyway. "I guess I just have to get used to it. Sharing you, I mean."

Green eyes still stoic, Lily turned back to the table, voice hard. "What about the other stuff you said? The insults? I know that it's strange I've never had a..." She paused, "A boyfriend before Chase, James, but how could you possibly say there something really wrong with me?"

"I don't know," James ran a hand through his hair, cursing himself for using the old habit same as always. "Lily, I....you know that you're a brilliant girl. I just said that in the moment because I kept thinking 'No more fun with Lily. We have to be formal now because she has a boyfriend.'"

Lily's brow furrowed and she turned back to face him in full once more. "But don't you know that that could never be true? I will always be your Head Girl, your homework helper, and your partner in crime when it comes to stealing cookie dough from the kitchens." Lily instinctively reached for James' hands. "You're my mate, James. No boyfriend could ever change that."

James squeezed her hands, ignoring the must-distance-myself rule. He'd almost forgotten how small and soft her hands were, and how bright her eyes were.

"No amount of galleons either?" He asked. "Just to make sure. I've heard we make the James-Potter-fanclub quite the jealous ones."

"Well, we'd have to see how much money their talking."

James couldn't help it, he burst out laughing right their in the middle of the library. And Lily, having a sense of humor to match his, joined in. It was an ice breaker, the perfect thing to make both of them smile internally and externally. It was the kind of laughter that nobody-- even those who had been eagerly listening to the conversation in hopes of gaining some juicy gossip-would have understood but them. This clearly explains why Madame Pince did not take sympathy on the Head Boy and Girl in their moment of making up, promptly kicking out of the library with her screeches. And leave they did, cracking up all the way.

"Merlin, I missed you." Lily cried as they exited the library, still in relieve hysterics. "You have no idea how much it sucks to be hated by the guy that matter's most in your life." It was true. She didn't even want to think of all those hours she spent wistfully thinking of James, his jokes, his nuances, and the absolutely mad conversations the two of them would share.

James started at the sentence, but found he could relate to it all the same. "I missed you too." He smiled, and still felt slightly guilty, however. Apologizing was not enough. He knew that ignoring her surely did a number on both of them these last two weeks or so. Though neither of them knew it.

He stood there, smiling at Lily, marveling at the way her smile seemed to light up his line of vision when suddenly, an idea struck, so quickly that James nearly toppled over. His smile grew ten times in width.

"I still need to make it up to you, Lils." He said quietly.

"You really don't." She smiled. "Unless you were serious about that whole galleons thing."

"How about I become your permanent slave for life?"

The question was random, Lily told herself, but it was James, after all.

"A lackey?" Lily offered, eyes sparkling.

"Sure. I'll be known as Lily's lackey and everywhere you go I'll follow to serve your needs!" James proclaimed loudly, walking to the edge of the staircase and declaring these words rather loudly.

"Get down before you hurt yourself, Lackey!" Lily yelped, struggling to keep her expression stern as she yanked him down from his rather ridiculous pose.

James leapt down and stood, grinning at Lily, who colored slightly.

"So I'm forgiven for being an arse?" He asked softly.

The way he was looking at her, the greens and browns and blues of his eyes nearly dazzling her senseless made the red head want to do more than just smile and smile at him.

"Oh, you'll always be an arse, Lackey," She informed him, chucking him lightly under his chin, "But yes, you're forgiven."

Such a rush of euphoria ripped through James that he almost missed the joking insult in her last words.

Almost.

"Ouch." He said, before leaping forward and tickling Lily viciously, making her scream and laugh.

"Stop it, you bloody arse!" She shouted, making the paintings among the corridor raise eyebrows in curiosity.

"Alright, alright. I can't help it if you're a weak little squealer." He laughed.

She nudged him. "Hey, I've got strength."

"Sure you do."

"Jaaaaaaames." She whined. "Don't be mean."

"Yes ma'am."

The two of them were grinning ear to ear, the both of them, standing in the corridor like idiots. The paintings stared amusedly and whispered to one another. The moment was lasting too long and James knew it. This was a beyond platonic thing to be doing. He promptly changed the subject.

"So...erm...what were you doing in the library?" James asked, shouldering his bag and walking beside her. He knew the answer to the question already, and tried to ignore the unpleasant swoop of his stomach when she answered.

"Chase was supposed to be there. But I guess something came up." Lily answered, ignoring the rather remorseful pang in her stomach. She felt embarrassed, all of a sudden, and flushed.

"Oh." It was a subject that James felt he really shouldn't ask about. "Listen, I've got those nasty runes problems to work on. Do think that after patrols tonight we could-?"

"PRONGS!" Sirius' oddly feminine yell rang in the hall. "You're ten sodding minutes late to practice! What happened to 'I'll be at practice on time, I swear.'? Huh?"

Lily stuffed a hand in her mouth to keep from cracking up.

"Sorry," James blurted, rushing down the corridor towards his fuming mate, "Lost track of time."

"Women...." Sirius muttered darkly, whipping around and stalking ahead of James.

"So....I'll see you for Head's Patrols tonight?" Lily called, still standing in the corridor with a ridiculous smile on her face.

"Eight o clock, right?" James shouted back, keeping apace with Sirius.

"Of course!" She called.

The Head Boy turned one last time to wave at his Head Girl, her flaming hair the only real give away in the hundred feet or so between them. He barely even felt it when Sirius smacked him upside the head as soon as they rounded the corner.

* * *

**A/N: I know, I know, it's been a long time. And this chapter is on the suckish side. Good news, though. After the weekend of the 18th, I will be updating a lot more often because a) my musical will be over and b) I'll have so much more time on my hands. I basically have the rest of the chapter planned out, it's just the act of writing that's irking me. Please review and vote on which prank this chapter had that you liked best. Oh, and if you haven't been to my profile poll, please do. I'll try to reply to your reviews if I'm not too busy. Any questions, feel free to ask! Look for info. updates on my profile.**


	18. Vents & Vultures

The score was in the boys' favor: 425-417. If the tension within the school wasn't high enough, what with exams, make-ups and break-ups, it sure was now. The scoreboard hung in the corridor same as always, but as the days dripped by like water out of a leaky faucet, it began to seem more ominous to the many students who walked by it.

Teachers were getting more annoyed with the pranks than usual. McGonagall especially, who was said to have lost it when a dung bomb went off in her classroom sometime last week, was on a rampage to find the Marauderesses and unmask them. It was rumored that she had applied to the Ministry of Magic for a search warrant object that could detect pranks before they happened.

But so far, nothing much hadhappened. The Marauderesses were as discreet as ever, and the pranks from both teams were as brilliant as ever. It was like a contagious disease that everyone enjoyed. A raging battle of the sexes that girls and boys alike took up as a personal challenge. Over the last month, it hadn't just been the Marauders and Marauderesses that had been pranking. Although their tricks were always recognizable, that didn't stop the sixth years and lower from trying to match the two opponent's calibers with pranks of their own.

"It really is annoying." Gracie drawled, running a hand through her hair and leaning back in her chair. In late March, the high winds were slowing down and the snow was being replaced with rain. Meaning our heroines, along with our heroes, were forced to retreat to the library where they could plan. "We work this hard on our own pranks and now the youngsters get all chipper and think that they can handle the exact same thing."

"It's nothing to get upset about," Emma said evenly, anxiously scratching at her blank parchment with an empty quill, "Besides we have better things to focus on than unruly students."

"True." The brunette shrugged. "But if we plan on having Lily here any time soon, we're gonna need to get her away from James and back to our table."

"You say that like it's a piece of cake." Emma groaned. "We must be crackers for even trying!"

They both glanced far across the library, where the red head herself sat with James, talking and laughing along with the rest of the Marauders.

"You think that if we chuck paper over there she'll come?" Gracie asked lightly.

"Do it." Emma grinned.

"I can't believe you actually did that." James said, his shoulders shaking as he tried and failed to hide his laughter.

"It's true!" Lily whispered, looking around at all the Marauders. "And after that, Petunia never my borrowed my makeup again. And I have to say that I--…ouch!" She winced as a parchment ball hit her smack in the forehead.

"Who's it from?" James asked, leaning a little close to Lily to read it over her shoulder.

Lily's eyes scanned the small note and she looked across the library, blushing a brilliant shade of pink. "Gracie and Em. They want me to go over to their table and discuss….erm…our transfiguration paper."

"Okay, see you later, Lils." James lightly pinched her arm and she stuck her tongue out at him as she walked away. The last week or so had rendered them once more inseparable. Well…almost. Lily had still been seeing Chase, much to everyone's disgruntlement. As far as James was concerned, they were still just friends, still partners in crime, still secretly crazy about each other.

"Sorry," Lily apologized; face still tinted rose color as she took a seat at the girl's table, "I was with James and…" She trailed off. What was there to lie about? Nothing Gracie or Emma would believe. "That's it. I was with James."

"We know." Gracie muttered. "I could feel the love fumes across the entire library."

The red-head rolled her eyes but otherwise continued on as if nothing had changed in their plans for planning. "So, any ideas?"

"None." Emma said, allowing her head to bang rather sharply on the desk. "Sure, this week's prank is a sure-fire hit. As long as we find our victim in time."

"But what about the final prank?" Lily asked eagerly. "You guys haven't thought of anything?"

"Lily, we're trying to think of big and climactic." Emma sighed, purple eyes revealing her exhaustion. "But there's nothing in the universe we haven't done that we can be sure that the Marauders won't try."

Across the Library, the Marauders let out a collective crow of delight and all high-fived each other, shouting about a final prank surprise. The girls groaned.

"Lily…" Gracie began. "We have five days exactly until April fool's Day. April First. THE END OF THE PRANKWAR DAY. We have to think of something brilliant that can get us to win."

Lily glared after the boys. "You know, sometimes, I just wish I could make every single one of them vanish. We wouldn't have issues without them, right Grae?"

Gracie snorted. "You got that right. Em?"

The ebony haired Marauderess was staring straight ahead, at something no one could see. It took her a few minutes for her to snap out of it, but as her eyes met Lily's and Gracie's both, she said softly, "Lily, repeat that first sentence."

The red head did, and with a gasp, the three girls were hit with a lightning bolt of inspiration. It was perfect. They were sure to win. They wouldn't let the boys win this time.

"Em, you get the books," Lily said, "Gracie, you find the room where we can make this work," She stood up and swung her bag on her shoulder quicker than a whip, "As for me, I'm going to go begin our next prank. Over and out Midnight and Frown."

No one noticed the girls leave the library in separate directions, each boring a determined expression on her face. No one noticed the Marauders whisper excitedly about their final prank, something about a 'fuse' and a 'perfect lighting ground'. No one saw the glance that Lily and James shared, so small it might have been nonexistent. No one noticed that at some point that afternoon, the yowls of Mr. Filch's cat could no longer be heard along the hallways.

It didn't matter, however, if anyone saw them or not. The explanation of each would be revealed within the next week, without a doubt.

* * *

"Has anyone seen James?" Lily asked as soon as dinner had begun that evening. Her plate remained untouched, and she looked around the room with searching eyes.

"Potter?" Chase Davies rolled his eyes. "Goodness Lily, I'm sure he's off shagging a girl again."

"James," Lily began, emphasizing her mate's first name with a rather rude glare, "Doesn't shag on Saturday nights. In fact, he never shags."

Chase shrugged, not giving a hoot. "More potatoes, dear?"

Gracie muttered something into her soup that sounded a lot like 'Dear? My arse' while Lily winced at the pet name and shook her head, staring anxiously at the Gryffindor table.

Emma shot Lily a short look, as if to ask, "Why are we even sitting here?" And Lily shrugged, as if she didn't know herself.

The Ravenclaw table was looking particularly nasty tonight, seeing as the Quidditch Cup Finals were tomorrow. In the end, Slytherin had forfeited due to love struck players who kept professing love to Madam Hooch in the middle of the last match (Courtesy of the Marauders) and Ravenclaw was the only other team besides Gryffindor to go undefeated.

So tomorrow was the final Quidditch game of the year: Gryffindor v. Ravenclaw A.K.A. James Potter (Captain and seeker) v. Chase Davies (Captain and Seeker). There obviously wasn't going to be much good sportsmanship between both teams, because everywhere the girls looked, a Ravenclaw glared them down.

"Maybe he's up in the dorm." Lily said, beginning to rise.

"Sit down, Lily." Chase said sharply, causing Gracie to raise an eyebrow. "Look, I know Potter is your mate, but you can talk to him after dinner."

For a minute, it looked like Lily would comply. Emma bit her lip and Gracie sucked in a breath. The red-head blinked at her boyfriend for a moment before standing up again and looking down imperiously at him.

"This is my best mate we're talking about, Chase. I'm going to go find him whether you like it or not." With that said she stood up and walked to the Gryffindor table.

Gracie glanced around, torn between amusement and anger at Chase's behavior. She finally gave up and walked away, Emma with her.

"Have you seen James?" Lily asked, coming up behind Sirius.

"He's up in his room, worrying away." Sirius grunted. "He locked us out."

Lily's brow furrowed. "He's that worried about a bloody match?"

The boys looked at her, as if she had just uttered the worst possible insult ever.

"Yes," Remus sniffed, looking very affronted, "He's that worried about a 'bloody match'. He claims he can't do it tomorrow."

Lily wasn't even listening, having grabbed a plate and filling it with James' favorite food. "I'm going up to talk to him."

"You're not going to make a difference, Evans." Peter tried helpfully, only earning a withering glare from Lily. "He's not letting anyone in."

"I'm not just anyone, am I?" Lily grumbled as she stalked off towards the Gryffindor tower, plate in hand. "And I plan on making him listen."

It took her all of five minutes to get up to the Head's Dorm, and three seconds to get to James' room.

"Open up, James!" She shouted, banging on the door. If it was going to come to this, dragging him out kicking and screaming, she would do it.

"Lily?" Came a weak voice from behind the door.

"Yes, you prat. Now open up!"

"NO!"

"So help me James Potter, I will owl your mother and tell her that her son is a bloody coward if you don't come out here right this minute!"

Silence.

The door creaked open slowly and Lily's eyes widened two times their size to find a shirtless James Potter sprawled about on the floor. She immediately dragged her gaze to the floor.

"I'm sick." He moaned.

"What do you mean you're sick?" She asked irritably, plopping down on the floor beside him as if it was an everyday routine. "We already knew about your mental issues, James. It's not a surprise."

"I was so worried about the match that I threw up this afternoon. All of my lunch was on the floor. It was gross."

"James," Lily lay down next to him and put the plate of food out of sight. "It's a Quidditch game. You love Quidditch. You're good at Quidditch. So what's there to worry about?"

He didn't reply, only groaning and turning over onto his stomach. Lily shook her head and took his hand. "I can't believe you're getting so worked up about a Quidditch match, Potter."

"It's not aQuidditch match, Lils." He glowered. "It's theQuidditch match. If we don't win this, I'll be a failure as a Gryffindor Quidditch Captain."

"You're a wee bit over dramatic for someone who claims to be so confident, James, don't you think?"

"Yep, that's me, always full of surprises."

"Are you saying you're just not going to show up because you're afraid you'll fail?"

He rolled his eyes. "That's the general idea."

She hit him.

"OW! Stop it!"

"You stop being a baby!"

"Go away!"

"James, you're acting like a child!"

"What else is new?"

Lily let out an exasperated sigh and hit him again. He groaned again.

"James?"

No answer. Translated: _What, Lils?_

"You practiced your team into top shape. If you don't win tomorrow, it won't be because you're not good enough, or any of your teammates for that matter."

Again, no answer. Translated: _Your point?_

Lily propped herself up on one elbow. "I think you should know that in the case that you do lose, I will be there for you." He opened his eyes and looked confusedly at her. "It sounds stupid, I know. Besides, what's the worst the game could get?"

"Have you ever seen Ravenclaw play?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

She shrugged. "You think I follow you Quidditch Fiends with your madness?"

He grinned. "Then I guess you'll have to see for yourself how dirty these games can get when everyone's under pressure, eh Lils?"

The red-head laughed and rolled her eyes. "I'm sure it'll blow my socks off and have me on the edge of my seat. I'll be amazed, as always."

"You sound amazed." He noted sarcastically. The both laughed quietly in the dark of the dorm room before locking eyes for a long moment.

"Do you want me to stay?" She asked looking around the room, "And clean up your puke when you up chuck again?"

"I'm sure Chase is looking for you," He replied evenly, keeping the bitterness from his voice.

Despite the lack of light, her blush was easily spotted. "Okay, I'll go. You'll do great tomorrow." She stood up slowly and, after ruffling his hair, began to walk out the room.

"Hey Lils?"

She stopped. "Yes?"

He smiled up at her, his eyes bright with something she rarely saw and could never recognize. "Thanks."

And with that, she closed the door and went to her own dorm.

* * *

The first thing a person must know about Quidditch Cup Finals at Hogwarts, is that everyone took it seriously. Even the bookish social outcasts left the library to attend the last match. There was no universal force that could stop them from seeing the last, dirty, guttural Quidditch Match at Hogwarts.

It should also be mentioned that when the day of said Quidditch Match came around, everyone in the school had taken sides, as usual.

It was the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors versus Slytherin and Ravenclaw that morning in the Great Hall. Everyone was mostly quiet and tense and at their house table. Even Lily, who was now receiving malicious looks from Chase and his friends in their black and blue Quidditch robes, was at her own table with Gracie and Emma.

"James is coming." Lily said, her voice completely even as the entire Gryffindor Quidditch Team surrounded her.

Sirius shook his head disbelievingly. "I don't know how you managed to get into his room, Evans. But whatever it is, I think its reason enough to keep you around."

"Thanks so much." The red-head snorted. She scanned the Great Hall with narrowed eyes and then a grin broke out on her face.

"The Captain has arrived." Was all she managed to announce before the Gryffindor table erupted in raucous cheering and screaming.

James marched into the Great Hall, Quidditch robes hanging almost gracefully about his person, his fist raised and punching the air repeatedly. Lily smiled and had to mentally restrain herself from leaping up and running over to hug him. She didn't even notice Chase's scowl deepen as she joined the cheering.

The Captain managed to make his way over to his friends after swimming through the sea of unknown faces saying 'Good luck' and 'You'll do great'. He took a casual seat next to Lily and grinned at everyone.

"Are you alright James?"

"We heard you were sick!"

"You're still gonna play right?"

"Guys, let the bloke have his space!" Lily shouted above everyone else, holding her hands out and shoving the hoards of people away. "James is fine, James was sick, but he's now better, and James is still playing. Now, let the Captain have his balanced breakfast!"

"Thanks." He muttered, sneaking a grin at Lily, whose green eyes sparkled.

"Don't thank me just yet." She whispered below everyone else's chatter, promptly shoving a forkful of pancakes into James' mouth.

He chewed, swallowed and laughed as Lily continued feeding, repeating over the same phrase, "The Captain needs his balanced breakfast."

By the time James had eaten a plate of pancakes and some eggs, Lily let him alone and began to eat her own breakfast.

"You're still rooting for Gryffindor, I take it?" He asked, fingering Lily's scarlet and gold scarf.

"Since when have dates ever topped mates?" She asked dryly. "Of course I'm rooting for Gryffindor. Besides, I hear that the Captain is quite the charmer."

James grin was growing in diameter. "You don't say!"

"Yes." Lily turned to him, not exactly sure what bizarre adrenaline rush was making her do this, but loving it all the same. "I do."

"ALL QUIDDITCH PLAYERS TO THEIR LOCKER ROOMS. ALL STUDENTS TO THE QUIDDITCH PITCH." Dumbledore's voice rang out over the hall and in a flash; every student was up on their feet and moving like a startled herd of cattle.

Lily stood slowly and chucked James under the chin. "Kick some arse out there, Potter. For me."

_Only you._ Were the words that crossed James' mind as she began to walk away, hips swaying slightly and long hair pooling down her back, something she rarely let happen.

"LILY!"

She pivoted towards him. All words he wanted to say froze on his tongue. From the green eyes to the freckled nose, she was beautiful. It was the perfect moment as all the students walked around them. He had to say something_. _

_I love you._

_Don't date Chase._

_Don't do this to me, Evans._

"Yes?" She looked hopefully at him. _Say it. Say it, James. _

"I…I just wanted to tell you to stay to the right side of the hallway on the way to the Pitch."

"Why?" Lily looked quizzical.

"Marauders Prank is on the left side. Just trust me."

She nodded slowly. "Alright then. Thanks. Bye."

"Bye." James sighed as she walked off.

Remus patted him on the shoulder. "Pathetic, Mate. Simply Pathetic."

"Oh, sod off!" James grumbled walking out the Great Hall. "C'mon. We've got some arse to kick."

* * *

Lily listened to James about the hallway tip-off. Thankfully, she was saved from the ultimate embarrassment of the newest prank: dozens of students with their skirts blown up just like Marilyn Monroe. McGonagall was the first to step on the vent trigger, her robes flying up to reveal her rather embarrassing underwear. Severus Snape was hit, showing off those same dish-water colored knickers that the Marauders had showed off during fifth year. Angie was next, wailing about how she had her red knickers on instead of her black knickers. Gracie was hit, swearing up a storm and losing five points from Gryffindor. She would have continued screaming a string of curse words at McGonagall if Lily and Emma hadn't dragged her to the Quidditch pitch.

By the time the entire school reached the stands, half the students had stepped on a vent and had their undergarments displayed to their friends, or boyfriends, or enemies. The idea it was the Marauder's prank started to surface when the boys began showing more interest in people's undergarments than the girls did.

Lily laughed quietly all the way to her seat in the Gryffindor stands, muffling it in her scarf and ignoring Gracie's furious glares. It was brilliant. The Marauders were brilliant. It was but for a moment she considered that the boys should win the bloody prankwar. Only a moment.

Once the panic about the vents had calmed down, the excitement for the match began. Lily couldn't recall ever sitting so still in a seat as she watched both teams line up and face each other. Through Emma's ominoculars she saw James and Chase shake hands, grimacing menacingly all the while.

"Hey, look at it this way," Gracie said, considerably less foul mouthed than earlier, "If Chase wins, your boyfriend will be happy, but your best mate will be depressed. Either way, you lose."

"I don't care if Chase loses." Lily spat out, looking surprised as the words themselves exited her mouth.

Emma smiled. "Ah, we have made progress. Lily is cracking."

"I want James to win, that's all." The red-head said defiantly, sitting up a little straighter.

Her friends rolled their eyes, but said nothing as Madam Hooch blew her whistle and the match began.

It was the dirtiest of the dirty, as far as Quidditch Matches were concerned. Every couple minutes Madam Hooch would have to blow her whistle and give penalties to Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. Lily kept her eyes on the seekers both. James was circling the pitch and Chase was tailing him.

"Copycat bastard." She cursed under her breath.

"What was that?" Gracie asked airily, looking as if she was enjoying the match very much.

Lily blushed. "Oh, nothing."

The match seemed to drag on for hours. The teams were neck and neck. Gryffindor's offense was ruthless, but so was Ravenclaw's. The girls saw bludgers flying across the field faster than the snitch seemed to be flying, the quaffles moving in a red streak. The snitch itself was nowhere to be seen.

The score was tied 110-110. Lily was quite sure she had screamed herself hoarse at every foul, goal and penalty given the entire game, but she wasn't the only one. All four house stands were a flurry of color and movement and noise.

"Man down!!!" Someone suddenly screamed. The student watched in horror as Remus, the keeper, was hit with a bludger and fell at the sand at the base of the goal posts.

Everyone seemed more than jarred by the loss of the keeper. Lily distinctly saw James run a hand over his face and Chase smirk. And then, a flash. Another. Lily took her ominoculars down and looked right in front of her.

The Snitch.

Five inches from her face.

The game continued on, everyone oblivious. Lily tried to shoo it away, but the snitch just sat there, hovering over her shoulder, now behind her head. She had to do something quick; Ravenclaw just scored twice.

It was a split second decision she made in that moment and probably the most suicidal thing she had ever willingly done in her life, but Lily opened her mouth and did it all the same.

James, flying some fifty feet above the stands, was getting rather pissed off at Davies' and his tailing. He was considering pulling another Wronski Feint when a voice shattered his chain of concentration.

"JAAAAAAMMMMESSSSS!!!!"

He swung around and immediately locked eyes with her. Throughout the whole game he had been making sure she was watching him and not Chase, and now, her gaze was more brilliant than it had ever been, despite his being more than half the field away from her.

She didn't say much else, merely raising her finger to her shoulder and mouthing a single word.

_Snitch._

It didn't take much thought or pondering to decide what to do. James lay flat on his broom and took off, racing past goal posts and players and streaks of color. He couldn't see the snitch, though he knew it was there. He had no idea how Lily was going to get out of the way in time. But there wasn't any way to wonder now.

In that five point four seconds it took the students and teachers to understand what James was doing and where he was headed, all was quiet. And then, as James roared towards the Gryffindor stands, "Everyone duck!" panic began to ensue.

"Prongs, where are you going?" Sirius yelled, but James ignored him. The Quidditch players cleared the air like startled doves.

Only Lily stood still as a statue, not even breathing as James hurtled towards her. If she revealed the snitch, Chase would see it, and have a chance at getting it.

"Lily duck!" James screamed, desperation seeping through him.

"Not yet!" She yelled back.

Twenty feet. Ten feet. Five feet. He'd crash into Lily any second now. He stretched his hand out for the unseen snitch, not sure whether he was going to use it to push Lily out of the way or win the game.

Almost there…

Lily ducked, pressing her entire body flat to the floor of the stands. James flew over her, feet skimming her back as his fingers closed around the tiny, golden, taken-quite-by-surprise snitch.

The stands exploded with screams and jeers and cheers. James felt his stomach swoop as he pulled out of the dive and did a victory lap around the stadium.

"VICTORY FOR GRYFFINDOR!" Sirius screamed as students began to pour out of the stands and onto the field.

Lily stood up in the stands, smiling the biggest smile she had ever smiled in her life. Gracie and Emma stood beside her, gaping.

"Was that whole stunt planned?" The brunette asked, gesturing to James and her.

Lily shrugged, hiding a grin. "You never can tell, can you?"

The throng of students became a mob, all reaching to thump the team on the back. They hoisted James and the cup above on their shoulders and all joined in on a cheer, "GO GO GRYFFINDOR!" Lily didn't even have eyes for the Ravenclaw captain, who bellowed at his team for their poor playing tactics. She eventually walked down to the gold and scarlet mob with Gracie and Emma, screaming herself hoarse all over again and punching her fist in the air with all of her friends and classmates.

She would wait until later to congratulate James, when it was just the two of them.

_Besides_, she thought to herself with a wry smile,_ the boy could always do with an ego boost. _

* * *

The parade back to Gryffindor tower was taking longer than expected. As always, the team was hoisted above the crowd and carried, students and fan girls in the wake.

"HE'S JUST SO HOT!!" A third year squealed to her friends, regarding Sirius with bright eyes.

Gracie pretended to gag. "That's disgusting. I—" She was cut off as her skirt flew up in her face; she had triggered one of the vents.

"SODDING HELL!" She screeched, jumping off the floor like a frightened cat.

"I see London, I see France!" Sirius crowed, grinning down at her.

Lily and Emma walked ahead, not even bothering to stop the two from arguing.

"You're lucky you're up so high, Black, otherwise I'd hex you into oblivion." She glared.

"Gracie, your words are music to my ears." He hopped off of Peter's shoulders. "I love it when you go all commando on me."

Gracie stared at him, looking as if she wanted to smile and doing a pathetic job of trying to hide it. She finally stalked off, glaring as multiple vents tortured girls around her.

Lily got to the front of the parade, where James was standing with Remus and pleading with the Fat Lady's Portrait.

"What's going on?" The red-head asked sharply.

"We're trying to get her to let the Hufflepuffs in, too." James said. "They deserve to party with us!"

"I am the Portrait judged with letting only Gryffindors in." The Fat Lady fussed. "Only. Gryffindors."

James tried begging her a little further, but when she wouldn't budge, they had to send the Hufflepuffs to their own dorm. Remus sighed and let the still jubilant Gryffindors into the tower. Lily patted James on the shoulder.

"Don't worry Captain." She said sympathetically. "I'm sure the party won't be lacking in any respects. Now go on and have yourself a good time."

Gracie marched past them, muttering darkly about 'hormonal men deserving to die'. James smiled and looked down at Lily, beaming at him in her Gryffindor scarf.

"I'm proud of you, Head Boy." She stated, nodding in approval.

"Me? With my windswept hair and dirty Quidditch robes?" He raised a dark brow and his hazel eyes glinted through his glasses.

"Especially with your windswept hair and dirty Quidditch robes." She confirmed.

Boyfriends be damned, James pulled her to him and hugged her tight, wrapping his arms about the small of her back. She sighed and hugged him back; enjoying the smell of freshly mown grass that seemed to linger in his robes a little too much.

More students filed past, snickering as the Head Boy and Girl separated, looking rather flustered. James held his hand up. "High five for the Captain?"

Lily jumped and laughed out loud when he raised his hand so she couldn't reach it. She was about to jump on his back and demand a piggy ride for that insult to her height when someone grabbed her arm and wrenched her around.

Chase.

A rather pissed looking Chase, at that.

"Lily." He said curtly. The crowd had stopped filing into the common room and was now staring at the couple with avid interest. "Potter."

"Davies." Came James' reply.

"I wanted to tell you I know." Chase continued, ignoring James completely.

Lily frowned. "Know about what?"

"That you're shagging Potter when I'm not around."

Her green eyes widened and Lily pulled her arm from Chase's grip. "Honestly, Chase? You're going to believe that gossip mill and the fan girls?"

"I know your games, Lily. You helped him win the match. You're always making up excuses to go talk to him. I get it." Was all her boyfriend replied before rounding on James. "And you, stay away from her."

"He's my friend!" The red-head cried exasperatedly. "Quit the jealousy act!"

Chase didn't even hear her as he swung his fist back and punched James in the jaw.

"JAMES!" Lily shouted as he stumbled backwards, grunting in pain. Chase didn't even give James a chance to retaliate, whipping out his wand and shouting, "Protego!"

The shield charm hit James hard enough to throw him against the castle wall, his skull smacking against the stone with a rather loud thud. He crumpled to the floor, passed out.

"Oi!" Sirius yelled, thundering through the people towards Chase. "C'mere, you slimy git!"

"Padfoot." Lily said in a deadly quiet voice. "I'll take care of Davies, please take James to the hospital wing."

Sirius stopped, his grey eyes flicking furiously between Lily and Chase and James. He finally shrugged, seeming to decide that Lily was a big girl who could handle this. He muttered, 'Wingardium Leviosa' and began to head down the corridor, passing Lily as he went and saying, "Please do him bodily harm, Evans."

"I plan on it." She informed Sirius, her tone still very still.

The corridor was silent, but the entire Gryffindor house had somehow managed to come out and watch what was going on without the Head Girl's noticing.

The red-head spoke not a word, simply staring at Chase Davies with a malevolence that everyone thought she only saved for James on special occasions. Everyone waited with bated breath for Lily Evans to take her wand out and hex him into oblivion, to use every jinx ever written down in a book.

What she actually did was no let down, despite its differentiation from everyone's expectations.

Lily strode forward and slammed her fist into Chase's face not once, but twice, thrice times. One to the eye, one to the jaw, one to the lip. Chase stumbled back, spitting blood and looking both humiliated and angered as his girlfriend bared down upon him. The crowd gasped and 'ooed' like a regular audience; there were even a few cheers from the girls.

"In case that didn't clarify, Davies, I'm breaking up with you." She said loudly, for everyone to hear. It was unlike Lily to make a public spectacle of a personal matter, but she wanted to banish any rumors forming in the devious heads of the gossip queens. "And not because you basically accused me of being a cheater and a slag, but because you attacked the Head Boy, my best mate, James Potter. That was a deliberate offense. I'll see to it that you have detention this week and that I never speak to you again."

She began to turn away, but then turned back, having distinctly seen Sirius' face in the crowd once more. She had forgotten her promise to him.

"Oh," She simpered, walking back to Chase, "And here's something to remember me by."

She kneed him in the groin. Chase fell to the floor and then began to crawl off down the corridor. Lily turned to the crowd, feeling an odd glow as all eyes fell on her. She now knew what James felt when he acted up to get attention. It felt good.

"Right," She began, keeping her composure and her ego in check, "The party will continue, but no liquor and no spreading untrue rumors." Her vicious green eyes swept over the faces of the younger girls. "You all saw what happened. There's nothing going on between James and I. Chase Davies is merely a paranoid prick. Now," She turned to Sirius, who was wearing a broad grin, "Did I leave anything out?"

He shrugged, looking all the more proud. "Nope. You cleared it up pretty well, Evans."

Everyone was quiet for a bit. A first year shouted, "Go Lily!" and a few applauded.

"Alight, we've got a party to start, so go on in!" Gracie shouted, taking control of the situation. The students bustled towards the Portrait Hole once more. Lily ran a hand through her hair, looking suddenly exhausted.

Emma walked over, "You coming, oh victorious warrior for women all around?"

Lily laughed. "As if. I've got to go see if James is okay."

"Pomfrey won't let you see him." Sirius glowered as he walked over. "Says he needs his bed rest." He turned to Peter and said, "Ten galleons says he wakes up with an amputated limb."

"When will she let visitors in?" Lily asked anxiously as Peter shook Sirius' hand in agreement.

"I'd check this evening if I were you." Remus offered.

The girls and boys clambered into the Portrait Hole just as Gracie said, "But honestly, Lils, where did you learn to swing like that?"

The door closed.

The Fat Lady leaned out of her portrait into another and said, "Lily Evans sticking up for James Potter. Did you see that, Vi?"

Her painted friend nodded, looking just as perplexed as the Fat Lady felt. "Now I know I've seen everything." She paused, offering the Fat Lady a glass of wine. "But you know, I always did think they'd make the cutest couple…"

* * *

_**Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs,**_

_**Good day and greetings. We would like to congratulate you on your defeat of the Ravenclaw team in the Quidditch Finals. Though how your team managed to win with a collective IQ level of thirteen we're not sure. We would simply like to remind you that in a few days time, we will be wrapping up this prankwar and unveiling our final pranks. Be reminded that no one is allowed to be physically or mentally harmed and no school property can be permanently destroyed.**_

_**We would also like to ask that you turn the vents off, because quite a few girls are being humiliated by the revealing of their undergarments.**_

_**Sincerely,**_

_**Midnight, Freckles and Frown A.K.A. The Marauderesses**_

_**P.S. - It's also important so say that our prank will be seen in….high places tonight. Heads up, gents. **_

* * *

"Evans, we already saw Pomfrey an hour ago. If she didn't let us in then, why would she let us in now?"

Lily stabbed at her macaroni. "I just want to talk to James and see how he is. Is that too much to ask?"

"For Pomfrey it is," Gracie groaned, "The woman's a complete nutter when it comes to students and injuries."

"Do you guys hear that sound?" Peter asked suddenly.

"Well, I don't care what she says," Lily huffed, ignoring Peter, "I want to see James."

"It sounds like meowing." Peter continued.

"She said he'll be out in a few days. I guess he hit the wall a little hard." Remus stated.

"Um….guys…"

"Well, I still can't wait!"

"GUYS!" Peter called shrilly.

"What?" Lily snapped.

"Listen…"

Gracie, Lily, Remus, Sirius and Peter all strained their ears.

"It is meowing…" Remus said bemusedly.

"But where's it coming from?" Sirius asked. The five of them were obviously not the only ones able to hear that strangled yowling; most students were listening as well.

"It's probably a banshee!" Second year Carrie Wilkes started telling her friends. "I heard the Forbidden Forrest is full of them!"

Now, one would think that with this being a magic school, students would be used to mysterious noises coming from corridors, but that didn't stop these particular students from rushing out the Great Hall to find the source of the sound, teachers and prefects following in tow for the use of crowd control.

It wasn't until they rounded the corner that everyone burst into laughter.

Because there, tied to the highest of chandeliers in the area, Peeves swooping about her was Mrs. Norris. And while some would consider it animal cruelty to tie Mrs. Norris to a dangling decorative, no student in Hogwarts felt one ounce of remorse for the feline, who was known for turning in any rule breakers to Filch with a simple mew.

The cat, looking rather angry, hissed and yowled as Peeves circled her, pelting bits of chalk at her fur.

Lily grinned as Emma appeared next to her, looking a little flustered. "Sorry, I didn't mean to take so long. But the cat started scratching."

"Where did you come from?" Remus asked, glaring suspiciously at Emma.

"The library." She replied smoothly. "I had an essay to research for. Transfiguration."

"You mean the one you told Lily you finished this morning?"

Emma's violet eyes widened and she back tracked. "I needed to check on a few facts. You can never be too careful."

Remus looked like he wanted to say something else, but Lily's bark of laughter bade him to look up. Argus Filch, the caretaker of Hogwarts and owner of Mrs. Norris, was shuffling through the crowd, sobbing hysterically about his 'Poor poor sweeting Norris'.

As always the case when a prank was played, laughter danced about the hall like super balls. But unlike most days, it was quickly silenced as McGonagall stalked forward, followed by six small men.

"Goblins." Sirius muttered. "Damn, the Ministry listened to her and gave her bloody Goblins."

"And this means?" Gracie asked, standing on her tip toes to see the Deputy Headmistress.

"Just watch." He whispered.

McGonagall walked right under the chandelier, said something to one of the Goblins, who promptly flew up with three other Goblins in tow.

All three transformed into vultures. Long wings, short, sharp-looking beaks.

"They're animagi?" Lily asked. "I thought only humans could be those!"

"Goblins have powers of their own." Sirius sneered. "Their race is ancient, and magic is deep in their blood," His grey eyes followed the birds as the soared to the top of the chandelier, "Some join Voldemort as spies, others work for the Ministry."

"What do they get in return?" Emma wondered aloud.

"The only things Goblins want," Sirius said flatly, "Gold. Treasure. McGonagall must have asked for some to look for the Marauderesses and keep tabs on everything that's going on."

Hushed voices of worry rippled through the throng of students as the vultures reached the chandelier and picked up the small Mrs. Norris in their gnarled talons.

"One thing for sure," Peter whispered, "Pranking is gonna be harder than ever now."

Lily met Gracie and Emma's eyes with a worried glance, but said nothing more on the matter. The vulture-Goblins handed off the cat to McGonagall who removed a small note that had been stuck to the cat's tail.

"Courtesy of the Marauderesses." She read aloud, looking as if she could burn the note up with her eyes on the spot.

There was a small burst of cheering but then it was silenced as McGonagall watched the students and the vultures' eyed the cat with beady eyes.

"I think that it should be mentioned to all prankers that I am cracking down on you," McGonagall fixed her gaze on everyone in a single second, "Marauderesses, wherever you are, beware. Marauders," Her eyes landed contemptibly on Sirius, Remus and Peter, "You already know what's coming. Perhaps you should warn the girls, like good gentleman."

Breaking the silence that followed McGonagall's speech, Filch suddenly rushed forward and grabbed his feline companion. The dim mood was instantly shattered as he began cooing at the cat and licking the fur behind her ears, as if he himself was a cat, too.

"Now that," Sirius said, holding his stomach as he laughed "Is weird."

"Tell me about it," Gracie cackled, her ponytail bouncing as she shook with giggles, "I knew Filch had social issues with relating to people and all, but this? Merlin!"

In her attempt to stop from laughing, Gracie leaned on Sirius' shoulder. Somehow his arm slipped around her tiny waist and now they were standing there, grinning like loons, acting exactly the way most couples did.

"Let go of me," Gracie said. It wasn't a demand, and Sirius considered it more of a reminder to pay heed to at one point or another.

"If you insist." He let go, winking at her as she began to glower. "You know, for a minute there, it was almost as if we were getting along."

The brunette bit her lip and then grinned cockily. "First, delusions that I'm in love with you, now hallucinations that I'm getting along with you? What next, Sirius?"

"You tell me." He grinned back just as cockily. She rarely called him by his first name.

She rolled her eyes and shrugged past him. "How about I leave to get some sleep and you stay right here?"

"I know you'll be thinking about me all night!" He called after her.

Gracie smiled to herself, a smile that reached all the way to warm brown of her eyes. Most people missed it because they didn't know it could exist on her face.

Sirius saw it though, and it made all the difference in the world. Lily, who saw the whole exchange and the meaning behind it, followed Gracie, noticing that as she passed Remus and Emma that the two seemed to be arguing.

"I don't want to talk about this, Remus." Emma shook her head furtively. "Later, okay?"

"Emma, I'm going to the Hospital Wing, want to come with?" Lily knew that the poor girl needed out of the conversation.

"Sure." Emma said, walking away from Remus feeling slightly more than guilty.

"You're free to go to the dorms as soon as we get out of sight." Lily said under her breath.

Emma sighed heavily. "Thanks, Lils."

"LILY!"

The red-head glared as Chase came limping over to her, sporting a black eye and holding a bag of ice to the front of his pants. "I need to talk to you, Lily."

She didn't even spare a passing glance, walking right past her ex-boyfriend. They turned the corner and Emma took off for the girl's dorms, giving Lily one more hug before she did.

* * *

_**Midnight, Freckles and Frown,**_

_**Heads up? Thanks for the hint. Now the entire school has been scarred with the image of Filch licking fur off his own cat. **_

_**We will of course remember all the rules when it comes to Finale of the prankwar. It's gonna be big, so we'd be ready if we were you….**_

_**Also, it should be mentioned that the vents won't turn off until tomorrow at nine A.M. Sorry. **_

_**IQ of 13?! The Quidditch team?! Mr. Prongs would like to say that he is personally offended by this jibe.**_

_**Sincerely,**_

_**Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs**_

_**P.S. - Seen the scoreboard lately? We'd be nervous if we were you!**_

* * *

"Please let me in, Madam Pomfrey!" Lily begged, banging rather loudly on the Hospital Wing doors. "I need to see James!"

"Mr. Potter is indisposed of right now!" Shrieked the Nurse from inside the hospital. "He doesn't need the high stress of visitors at this hour! Besides, shouldn't you be in bed?"

"It's my duty as Head Girl to make sure my Head Boy is going to be okay. And as Head Girl, I'm allowed to be about the castle at this hour. It's only ten 'o clock!"

Madam Pomfrey opened the door a crack. "He's sleeping, Miss Evans. Snoring like a mountain troll. Besides, the Hospital Visiting Hours ended about four hours back. Now please go get some rest, Miss Evans!"

_James doesn't snore_. The fact that Pomfrey reported James snoring seemed rather odd. After all, Lily had fallen asleep next to James on the couch plenty of times and he hadn't even snuffled.

"Look, Madam Pomfrey," Lily held the door open with her foot, "I just want to see James. I won't wake him up; I won't so much as touch him."

The Nurse eyed the Head Girl for what seemed like hours and then heaved a sigh, opening the door all the way. "Very well, Miss Evans. I'm going down to the kitchens to help a House Elf with a Head Cold. When I come back, you better be ready to leave and not have woken up Mr. Potter yourself. I gave him sleeping draught earlier, so if he wakes up himself, that's fine."

"Thank you so so so much Madam Pomfrey!" Lily leapt forward and hugged the woman, who looked a little surprised, but let Lily in anyways, exiting the room herself not a second later.

The Hospital Wing was dark, with six beds along the walls and curtains around some. Every bed was empty and perfectly made. Lily walked among each one, looking for her favorite head of mussed, dark hair.

"Ah-ha." She whispered, smiling slightly.

There, on the last bed in the right row, lay James Potter. His hair was as messy as ever, though some of it was covered by a bandage that stretched around his head. His glasses sat upon his night stand, which was miraculously already piled high with 'Get Well' cards and Bertie Botts Bean's.

The Head Girl surveyed the scene with raised eyebrows. She then promptly seated herself next to James' leg, leaned close to his ear and whispered, "The coast is clear, You Big Fat Liar, Pomfrey has left. But I have to say that you're a terrible actor when it comes to fake sleeping. One should never fake snore when they don't normally snore."

His hazel eyes snapped open and she could tell by looking only at them that he was smiling. "Could you blame me? I mean, my eyes probably burned out of my head when I saw Pomfrey's knickers when she stepped over a vent. I couldn't risk opening them again."

"You guys placed the vents in the Hospital Wing?" It was hard not to laugh at James' expression.

"Unfortunately." He grimaced. "But I'm glad you got her out of here."

"Hey, anything for a mate." She shrugged. "How long have you been awake?"

He shifted in the bed, "About twenty minutes or so. Help me up, will you?"

Lily gave him a hand as he tried to sit up against the pillows. He groaned and leaned his head back against the wall.

"You look…spiffing." Lily tried with an uneasy smile. "What's the diagnosis?"

"A major concussion and cut on my head." He grunted, fumbling to put his glasses on. "It's no wonder this castle has never been attacked or brought down. It's indestructible!"

It felt great simply sitting there, talking to James as if nothing else in the world really mattered otherwise. He hardly looked tired at all, and the golden brown of his eyes was mesmerizing as he looked at her.

"I'm glad you're okay." She told him softly, meaning every word of it.

"I felt bad after I woke up." He confessed. "Because I had left you to deal with Davies. By the way, what did happen after I left?"

"There was…erm…a confrontation." Lily blushed.

"Don't I know it?" James laughed. "The first time I woke up he was in here getting an ice pack from Madam Pomfrey. Whoever took him down after I blacked out did a downright thorough job…serves him right, the prat."

"Er…" Lily blushed even more.

"Well who was it?" Asked James excitedly. "Who took him down? Was it Sirius? Gracie?"

"It was me."

"What?" He looked like he'd just hit the wall again.

"I beat up Davies. I punched him three times and then kicked him where it hurts." She paused. "And then I dumped him."

James stared blankly at Lily for a few seconds, but then burst out laughing. "That's my girl!" He near shouted, patting her on the back.

"You would have done worse to him." Lily pointed out.

"Damn straight I would have!" James spat. "But the fact that you did it yourself makes it all the more worthwhile! Nice job!"

It didn't take that long for Lily to believe him. "I'm glad you approve, James."

"Approve? Ha, Lils, I would have given my broomstick to see that fight!"

She laughed, and then he laughed. And soon they were cracking up like a right bunch of loons. The red-head's face began to hurt because she had been smiling so long.

"What made you do it?" He suddenly asked, all trace of humor gone. He was simply looking at her, stoic persona in full drive, making it so she couldn't read a single thought flickering behind those eyes.

She knew what he meant the instant he asked. It didn't make answering any easier. She tried for humor first.

"Because no one messes with my lackey." She said, making him smile. Lily twisted her fingers in the fringe on her scarf, the one she had been wearing all day, before looking back at him again. "And I suppose I was really mad."

"About?"

"Him accusing us. You and me." She gestured between the two of them. "I was pissed off because I don't get why everyone keeps thinking we're this meant-to-be item. I mean we're—"

"Just mates." He finished for her, feeling a twinge of regret as he did.

"Yeah." She agreed hollowly. "That."

"I would apologize for being the cause of this," James began, "But I always thought Davies was a bit of a git."

Lily giggled. "Me too." She glanced around and spotted some gifts on the nightstand. "You didn't open these yet?"

"No." He rolled his eyes. "Should I have?"

"Oh, look," Lily said fondly, having opened the first card already, "The first one's from Angie!"

"Bugger," James cursed, "Can't you spare me?"

"Dear James," Lily read in her highest, most-prissy voice, "I hope you feel better. And when you get out of the hospital, do me a favor and owl me, I've been wanting to talk to you! Love, Angie."

James opened his eyes. "Is it over yet? Am I safe?"

The red-head laughed. "Nope, onto the next card!" But as her fingers ran along the envelope, her finger was cut.

"Oh, bollocks." She grumbled, sucking the blood from her cut.

"You alright?"

"It's just a cut, James." Lily said, pulling away from his outstretched hand.

"It could get infected, let me see it!" He demanded childishly, reaching for her hand.

"James!"

"Lily!"

Silence.

"Fine." She held out her hand, which he took in his own.

He whistled. "That is a huge paper cut. You sure there wasn't like…a razor on the edge of the envelope?"

"Positive." She sighed.

"Hold still." He reached over to his table and grabbed some bandage that the Nurse had left.

"James, might I remind you that you are in fact the patient."

"Hush, Lils, I'm working."

As if his life depended on it, James measured out a wrap and wound it slowly around Lily's cut. It must have taken him five minutes.

"Thank you, James." She said almost grudgingly as he beamed at her.

He hadn't let go of her hand yet.

"It's been quite the day, hasn't it?" He asked quietly. His thumb had started rubbing in small circles on her palm and she was noticing it more than a bit.

She nodded, "I suppose. Can I have my hand back now, please?"

"Wait!" James cried. "I have one more malady that is fool proof. My own Grandmother Potter taught me this one!"

Before Lily could protest, he took her hand, lifted it too his lips, and lightly kissed her fingertip where the bandage was not covering.

Lily watched with wide eyes as uncanny warmth spread from her finger to the ends of her toes. Green irises met hazel in what seemed to be an endless staring contest. Something in the air about them changed, making it almost hard to breathe.

"James—"

"Sh." He said it almost fiercely, the look on his face shutting Lily right up.

Her body was no longer receiving messages from her brain because it was in panic mode. But somehow, her other hand went from his lips to his cheek, to his forehead, to his bandage, lightly touching the bump that had risen beneath the skin. Now back to his cheek. His eyes were drawing her in, making her lose all sense of feeling in her limbs.

"Lily." The very mention of her own name from his mouth was like a wave of fire through her system.

"James." It felt the same for him.

"I-" He stopped, unsure of what to say. Unsure if anything particular even needed to be said.

The Hospital door slammed open. The two of them burst apart like a firecracker.

"ALL VISITORS OUT AS OF THIS MOMENT!" Announced Madam Pomfrey. "Mr. Potter, it's time to take your sleeping potion again."

"But I only just woke up!" He complained as Lily sat up straight and began to gather her bag.

"You need rest! Or you will not return to your dorm tomorrow night either!" The Nurse cried, pouring a teaspoon of potion.

"Well, I…er…better go." Lily stood and James sat up straight, wincing as his head throbbed.

"Wait, Lily." He reached for her hand.

"Yes?" She let him take it.

"Swallow this." Pomfrey groused, and James complied.

"I need to tell you something." He said once he had swallowed the potion.

"What is it, James?" She leaned forward, sitting on the cot again.

His eyelids were already dropping over his eyes. "Lily Evans…I…..you…" His head dropped onto the pillow with a soft thump and he released her hand.

"What were you going to say, James?" Lily asked desperately, nudging him gently. But it was too late, he was asleep.

"Miss Evans, I distinctly remember you promising to be gone when I got back." Pomfrey glowered.

"Going. And thank you, Madam." She took one last look at the sleeping James, and hurried out of the room.

The walk back to Gryffindor tower took longer than it usually would, because Lily kept going over what had transpired in the hospital wing. Laughing with James, bantering with James, his lips on her sore finger, the way he said her name; it was all making Lily feel like she had tumbled right into some 19th century tragic romance. She had never been one to moon over anyone, yet Lily Evans was beginning to like the idea of doing so.

It wasn't until Lily passed the Prankwar scoreboard and saw the tally marks that she realized that this was no time for worrying about a boy, even if said boy had been part of her worries for the last six months or so. This was war, and she didn't plan on losing.

455-455. A tie. The Marauderesses had three days to perfect their last prank, as did the Marauders.

The race was on.

* * *

**A/N: I'm aware that I deserve to be lynched for taking such a terribly long time on this chapter. Hopefully, the length of it (almost 10,000 words!!!) will satisfy your cravings! I have about two weeks before I go off to summer camp, so I'm going to really work hard and try to finish this story now. For an explanation of my random dissapearance for God-knows-how-many-months, see my profile.**

**Also, vote on the prank you like best and review the chapter, please! Like James, I need my daily ego boost, too !!!**


	19. Fireworks & Finales

"It comes down to this." Sirius said darkly, his eyes flicking back and forth between his friends. The Common Room was quiet and the students were off elsewhere. "The Plan."

Remus rolled his amber eyes. "Padfoot, spare us the dramatics. Peter, status report."

"Every room is properly set up with the prank ammo," Peter said seriously, his watery eyes reading a note from a small piece of parchment. "The initial start button-thingy is set in the room we discussed. Every piece of prank ammo is invisible and unable to be seen or sense unless one is to cast a disillusionment charm anywhere near said prank ammo."

"Excellent." Remus nodded. "James, did you carefully check each of our schedules to decide who has to start the prank?"

James nodded, pushing his glasses up his nose slightly. "Indeed I have, Moony. Sirius, you have the class that puts you nearest to the entire prank trigger when the last bell rings. The teacher of said classroom will leave after the bell rings to get their daily cup of tea from the staff lounge. You hang back and pretend to be looking for a dropped quill. Then slip into the back room and light the fuse…I mean…pull the trigger to the prank."

Sirius nodded, looking very intent on his mate's words. "Okay. So…I light the fuse and then we book it. The students will be in the corridors and will all see the…prank. We book it and hide out until the evening when the final score is tallied. I trust it we'll use the two-way mirrors in case of emergency?"

"I've already got mine in my pocket." James confirmed, patting the side of his pants.

"Then we're all set." Remus concluded softly.

James grinned, all tense concentration lost as he stretched and yawned. "Then I am off to go to sleep."

"WOAH!!!!" Sirius sat James down again, still looking…well…serious. "We are not done discussing matters at hand."

"But we planned everything!" James whined. "We've got this down more than we have the backs of our hands!"

"Not the prank," Sirius huffed. "I'm talking about a certain red-headed mate of yours."

James felt heat rise in his cheeks. "So?"

"So you need to ask her out again, mate." Remus said flatly.

It didn't even take consideration to make a decision. "No way."

"James…" Peter looked rather worried. "It's been all year since you asked her out. And now you've got her as your friend, why don't you make a bloody move?"

"Because that's not how we are!" James half shouted, looking more exasperated with every word from his fellow Marauders. "Lily and I…we're…we don't discuss things like this. We've always established the 'Just mates' mantra which I've been fine with the last nine months." He sighed, running an agitated hand through his hair. "Honestly, I can't risk ruining everything I've done with Lily this year over a stupid Hogsmeade date."

"But what if she said yes?" Sirius pressed.

"What if she slapped me across the face and walked away." James parried.

"Don't be stubborn, just take a risk, Prongs!"

"I can't!" James yelled, before his shoulders sagged. "I can't risk her going back to hating me again, I can't risk having to go back to being 'Potter' instead of 'James', I can't risk embarrassing myself when I've already done it so many times before. I love Lily and I'm not going to put her in that sort of awkward situation."

Sirius blinked at James and opened his mouth as if he was going to retort, but Remus just shot him a warning look.

"We just want you to be happy, James." The werewolf offered. "And we want you and Lily to quit this 'Just Mates' bullshit and look at the facts."

"Did you just say bullshit?!" Sirius laughed.

"What facts?" James demanded.

Remus sighed. "Yes I did say bullshit. And James, you'll have to figure that one out for yourself."

James glared lividly at his friends just as the Portrait Hole opened and Gracie, Emma and Lily walked in, whispering and gesturing at a small notepad of paper that Emma was carrying.

"LADIES!" Sirius boomed, hopping off his chair in an instant. "You're looking stunning, as usual."

"And you look like you're missing half a brain," Gracie replied coolly, not missing a beat, "As usual."

"Where were you guys?" James asked, ignoring the two idiots and their argument.

"Oh, just going around for a jaunt around the castle." Emma said in a sing song voice. "We were talking about the prankwar."

"WHICH WE ARE SO GOING TO WIN!" Sirius crowed

"As if," Gracie spat, "You guys don't stand a chance. The girls always kick your arses."

"We've got the better prank, this time." Sirius shot back.

"Girls are better, par none!"

"Oh, so take your own side! Sexist."

"Chauvinist!"

"Girly!"

"Misogynist!"

"I…wait, what?" Sirius blinked confusedly.

Gracie smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "It's okay, Sirius, we can't all have a normal level of intelligence."

Instead of trying to continue verbally sparring with her, Sirius just tackled her and started tickling her.

Lily turned to James, who she noticed had been looking at her oddly. "Ready to go do patrols?"

He groaned. "I was just about to go to sleep!"

The red-head smiled and dragged him up, "C'mon, you. If we finish early we can stop by the kitchens and get some cookie dough."

The boyish smile that fell on his face was enough to make Lily laugh.

"Have fun, you two!" Sirius called as Gracie tried in vain to throw him off her. "Have fun TALKING about IMPORTANT THINGS like….I don't know…FEELINGS and CRUSHES and HOGSMEADE DATES."

Lily gave Sirius a funny look before walking out. James followed her, but not before turning around and shooting Sirius a rude hand gesture and the dirtiest of dirty looks.

Gracie, still pinned beneath Sirius, said, "You suck at dropping hints, Black."

"And you suck at wrestling." The wolfish grin he gave the brunette made her almost smile.

She didn't reply, merely driving her knee cap into his groin and standing up gracefully as he crumpled in pain.

Remus stood up. "I'm actually going to follow James' original plan and head to bed." He snuck a glance at Emma, who colored and looked away with a slight frown. "Good night, all."

It was quiet again as Sirius rolled around on the floor groaning in pain. Peter stood, muttered, "Night" before scurrying after Remus.

"You going to bed too?" Gracie asked Sirius lightly, stepping over his body. "Or do you need another kick to help you along?"

Needless to say, Sirius stood up and ran up the boy's staircase without another word.

"Emma, you do know that you'll have to tell Remus the truth eventually, right?"

Emma nodded. "After the prankwar is over, I will. Promise. Besides," She got a sneaky grin on her face, "I'm not the only one who needs to do some confessing."

The brunette picked at a hangnail. "I have no clue what you're hinting at."

Purple eyes narrowed, Emma shook her head. "Whatever. We've got the prank all set. The room is ready, our schedules are coincided. The only issue is getting Lily and James together."

"I don't see why we have to do that in the bloody middle of the prank." Gracie muttered.

"Because, they'll never confess anything to each other unless they're alone, under pressure and thinking that this is their only chance." Emma pointed out. "All we have to do is make sure we don't get James in the room and we don't let Lily know we're avoiding him."

"I suppose it's our last major attempt at getting those block-heads together?" The brunette yawned.

Emma nodded. "If it doesn't happen, I may just shoot myself."

"So, tomorrow the plan is to pull it off and hope for the best." Gracie summed up. "And then get Lily and James together."

Emma nodded again.

Gracie smiled at the prospect of tomorrow's events. "Then let the games begin."

* * *

The next morning, the Great Hall was as chatty and cheery as usual. The normal buzz of conversation drifted about the tables like hazy fog. One would never find much significant about this unless they a) listened into each conversation or b) looked at each students' attire.

The regular Hogwarts robes seemed to have been ignored for that day. Each student wore a t-shirt, reading either 'Vote for the Marauderesses' or 'Vote for the Marauders'. Each group talked animatedly about the prankwar; pranks, prankers, and pranked included.

Occasionally a vulture would fly about the hall, fixing its beady eyes on one of the students before gliding away to take perch behind Professor McGonagall's chair. They had been doing this for the past three days, and while it was highly irritating to have someone listening to their conversations, most students had developed habits of chucking food and silverware at the animagi. No thanks to Sirius Black, for sure.

James sat at the end of the Gryffindor table, fingering his bowl of cornflakes uneasily as Remus, Emma, Sirius and Peter talked around him. Lily said she had to run to the loo and would be back in a minute.

"I can't believe you wear those disgraceful shirts." Sirius sneered, looking at the front of Gracie's 'Vote for The Marauderesses' t-shirt, "I mean, they are very unflattering to your breasts."

The brunette threw a biscuit at his head. "Who told you to even look there, Black?"

He grinned widely, "They have a gravitational pull, love. Can't help it."

Emma laughed rather loudly as she brushed her black hair up into a high pony tail, in the same style as Gracie. James found it rather odd that they both wore white sequined ribbons around their pony-tails. The sequins had looked oddly familiar to him…

"Are you ready for today?" Emma asked, wondering vaguely why James was staring at the side of her head.

"Of course." He smiled. "I just hope those poor girls know what they're getting into."

"I'm sure they do." Gracie answered, whilst continuing to chuck biscuits at Sirius. "They're probably already performing the prank right now."

Emma shot a doubtful look at Grace, and then placed her hairbrush in her bag.

"Attention students." The intercom sounded over the room, making the room go quiet, "This is your Merry Marauderess Freckles speaking."

A trickle of cheers echoed throughout the hall. McGonagall's left eye twitched.

"We would just like to remind the students, faculty, and Marauders that today is indeed the finale of the Hogwarts Prankwar. The winner's will be tallied tonight at midnight. Now, while school rules state you must be in your dorm before ten o clock, we Marauderesses encourage you to listen to your inner anarchist and attend this monumental event. It's not everyday you get to see some major arse kicking done unto the Marauders."

Another round of applause. All the teachers look rather miffed.

"Be sure to cast your vote before twelve o clock tonight and support your Prankwar! Have a nice day."

The intercom snapped off and the Great Hall was once again alive with half-crazed chatter. Gracie looked pleased.

"Well," She tightened her ponytail, "They seem to be quite on their game."

Now it was Sirius who chucked the biscuit.

"Sorry I'm late guys," Lily breathed after appearing out of what seemed to be mid-air, "The loo was full of girls."

Remus cast her a narrowed glance, which she had to look away and pretend not to see.

"Did you hear the Marauderess announcement?" James asked, pouring her a glass of Pumpkin juice.

She smiled, tying a white sequined ribbon about a high ponytail. "Wouldn't miss it."

"It was odd though," James continued, "The voice on the intercom seemed very familiar. Like something out of a déjà vu or dream."

Remus coughed rather loudly but said nothing. Emma suddenly shouted, "WHO WANTS PANCAKES?!"

"I do!" Lily called, grabbing some. "I need a well balanced meal. Got a big day ahead."

"Do you?" Remus asked sharply.

"Of course. We've got that Ancient Runes test." Lily replied, not even blinking. "James? Pancake race?"

"Can't," James explained, "Already ate. I would, however, want to…" He trailed off, eyes fixed to Lily's chest, "What are you wearing?"

The red-head couldn't help but grin. "Do you like it?"

"It's not supposed to say 'Vote for Marauderesses', Lils. You bought the wrong brand." James argued.

She looked down and eyed it. "Nope, it's the right one, I'm sure of it."

They stared each other off for a minute, playfully glaring, before Sirius awkwardly cut in. "See, Gracie? James stared at Lily's chest and she didn't chuck anything at him!"

Instead of retorting, Gracie glanced at her watch. "Crap, we've got to get going." She stood hurriedly.

Emma did as well, "We'll see you later, Lily."

"Do you have the Cauldron Cakes?" The red-head asked.

"Yes." Both her friends answered.

They walked off, leaving some very confused boys.

"Erm….cauldron cakes?" James asked.

"I WANT SOME!" Peter shouted.

"We're doing some experiments." Lily lied easily. "On…carb intake."

Remus hid a smile in his napkin. "Carb intake? Since when have Emma and Gracie ever cared about carbs? They're stick thin!"

"So they could use the weight!" Lily said heatedly, digging into her pancakes. "Don't question our methods of life!"

The four boys stared confusedly at one another, sharing a common thought: That was odd.

Little did they know that that was just the start of a VERY odd day.

* * *

The first class of the day had everyone restless in their seats. Not one whiff of a prank had been seen among the castle, and students were waiting anxiously already.

James remembered that he had wanted to tell Peter to remember to stall Professor McGonagall when it was time for their prank, but as he looked over to the seat next to him, he realized his small friend wasn't there.

Lily, sitting on his other side, looked oddly at him as he searched around the room. James then grabbed a piece of parchment, scribbled something, and passed it to her.

**Seen Wormtail? -J**

Lily had to bite her lip to hold back a laugh. It had already begun…

_**No, can't say I have. Maybe he's feeling sick. -L**_

James noticed that Lily's eyes were strangely bright, as if she was smiling, but there was no trace of said expression on her face.

**You alright?-J**

_**Of course. Why? –L**_

**It's nothing, you just look a little…excited.-J**

_**Tests in ancient runes can do that to a girl.-L**_

Gracie was ten minutes late to class, something that no one took notice of but Lily. Apparently she forgot her textbook. James decided to ignore Lily's antics. He had bigger issues on his mind.

* * *

When the second class of the day came around, it was seventh year Holly Winters who noted the missing boy this time. Only, it wasn't Peter she announced missing.

"Where is Amos?" She asked around, looking scared. "Has anyone seen Amos Diggory? My boyfriend?"

Holly was soon joined by a burly Ravenclaw, who was asking around for Chase Davies.

"Haven't seen him since first hour," Said the Ravenclaw, looking around suspiciously. "Said he needed to use the loo and never came back."

No one thought much of it. Students went M.I.A. often, whether it was for medical reasons involving hospital wings or hormonal reasons involving broom closets.

But then Professor Slughorn discovered during attendance that not only were Peter, Chase and Amos missing, but also Severus Snape. Not that anyone cared much, but it was still something to note.

Class began gradually. Today they were working on the first few stages of the Veritaserum potion. The room was filled with the clinking of vials and the bubbling of cauldrons. Out of the corner of her eye, Lily watched Emma exchange something with Gracie. The brunette lifted the object to her mouth and if one looked close enough, it looked like she was chewing.

No more than a few seconds later, Gracie passed out. Holly Winters screamed.

"Right," The Potions Master rumbled about the room, "I need a volunteer help take Miss Harlow to the Hospital Wing." With a flick of his wand he revived Gracie, who blinked owlishly and put a hand to her forehead.

Sirius was, as always, the first to raise his hand. But Slughorn picked Remus instead. The sandy-haired boy stood and helped Gracie up, but not before casting Lily a glare over his shoulder. She ignored him, same as she had earlier, and shared a nod with Emma.

The red-head smiled at her beezlenut powder that she was measuring out. Everything was on schedule and going according to plan. Just as the three girls had discussed, Gracie would get sick first. Then Emma would eat her 'Cauldron Cake' at around the third hour before lunch. Lily would stay behind to measure procedure and make sure nothing was going amiss.

Remus and Gracie had left ten minutes into the class. Neither of them came back for the rest of the period.

* * *

By lunch, the obvious had been laid out: something was certainly going on.

"It doesn't even make any sense," Georgiana Hanson told her friend, "I mean, David said he was just going to the library. But he never showed up to the next class!"

"I just want my darling Ricky back!" Wailed a fifth year Hufflepuff.

"Eh, who needs him?" Shouted a Slytherin girl to the first year. "He cheated on you, anyways!"

It was eleven thirty in the morning, and about two thirds of the Hogwarts male population had disappeared. Two were Marauders.

"I'm seriously freaked out." Sirius said shakily, eating some zucchini. "I mean, first Wormtail, now Moony. Where the bloody hell could they have gone?"

"And where's everyone else?" James asked, searching the hall, which was now practically over powered by girls.

"Relax guys," Lily said calmly, sitting across from them, "It's probably just a coincidence. Maybe the stomach bug is going around?"

James ran a hand through his hair. "But how come it's only guys? There's not a single female that has missed any classes. I--"

"Where are Gracie and Emma?" Sirius suddenly cut his friend off.

Lily shrugged and gripped her fork a smidge tighter.

Struck by an idea, Sirius blurted, "It's finally happened."

"What?" James asked.

"Gracie has finally snapped and gone on a killing rampage. This time she took Emma along for the ride."

This time Lily actually laughed and replied, "Don't be paranoid, you guys. It's just a regular day and nothing is wrong."

James noticed that strange brightness in her green irises again.

"Evans," Sirius looked absolutely incredulous, "This is not just any ordinary day. This is the end of the prankwar day. Or have you so graciously forgotten?"

James knew she had had that expression before…

"I haven't." She snapped. "I'm just not concerned. If the Marauderesses were up to something, you'd be able to tell. This just looks like a normal case of sick students. I'll get worried when all the boys are gone, okay?"

She stood up, plate of food hardly touched, and walked out of the Great Hall, running the prank schedule in her head once more. The first two Marauders had been taken down.

Two more to go.

She knew for a fact that everything was going smoothly. Emma had managed to eat her five-minute-fainting-potion-Cauldron-Cake in her third hour class. Both she and Gracie were now awake, upstairs and taking care of the operation and guarding the room.

It was all going to work out, she told herself firmly, casting back one more glance at James and Sirius.

How could it not?

James suddenly realized with a jolt that Lily looked that way when she was telling a terribly big lie.

* * *

"OUCH!"

"Sorry!"

"Wait, Wormtail?

"Remus?"

"No, I'm Amos!"

"It's dark in here!"

"Is Remus in here?"

"I'm here, Peter!"

"It's cold!"

"Why the effing hell are we in here?!"

"SHUT UP!"

………

"Okay, this is Remus Lupin speaking. Does anyone know where we are?"

……..

"Okay, another question…erm…say your name aloud so we can know who's here."

"Amos Diggory."

"Peter Pettigrew."

"Chase Davies."

"OKAY OKAY! Um, if you're in here, say 'I'."

"I!"

…..

"Wow, that's a lot of people."

"Again, why are we in here?"

"I don't know!"

"Does anyone remember anything about how they got in here?"

"I don't remember much. I remember a flash of light then ending up in here. Not much.…"

"Hey, that's what happened to me!"

"Me too!"

"So, we know how we got here…anyone know why?"

……

"Um, here's a question, are there any girls in here?"

……

"I knew it! Bloody hell!"

"What Moony?"

"What's going on, Lupin?"

"Ow, watch where you're stepping!"

"Apparently, gents, we're stuck in a room, which I'm guessing all Vanishing Cabinets are leading to, by the fact that we have cabinets in here but no doors. We were shoved in here by someone, and there are no girls in here. Now, did I leave anything out?"

……

"It's still really cold in here!"

"There's no door in here!"

"I'm scared!"

"Does anyone have their wands?"

……

"Shit."

"Moony, you cussed again!"

"Well, I'll keep on cussing! Peter, we're stuck in here. No one seems to be coming to get us. What does that tell you?"

……

"WE'RE GONNA DIE!!!!"

"MOMMY!!!!"

"What do we do, Moony?"

"I guess we wait. See what happens."

……

"We're dead. We're going to die alone and cold and in the dark."

"Hear hear!"

"SHUT UP!"

* * *

"Evans, Black, I want you both to go and look for the missing boys from this class." McGonagall demanded. "They seemed to have gotten lost!"

"Understatement of the year." Sirius muttered, standing and following Lily out of the class room. It was the second to last hour and the amount of male specimen in the castle was dwindling steadily and surely.

"C'mon, let's check the Hospital Wing." Lily said, starting ahead of him.

"You actually think we'll find anyone there?" He scoffed.

Lily turned around to face him. "Why wouldn't we?"

"Evans, I don't know what game these bloody girls are playing, but it's a dirty one." His grey eyes fixed on the ground.

"What convinces you the Marauderesses are behind this?" Lily asked sharply, turning a corner.

"What convinces you they're not?" He sniped back.

"I just know it." Lily said defiantly.

Neither said anything. Sirius looked more afraid than angry as he walked beside Lily, hands shoved in his pockets and leaning forward as he walked.

"James doesn't seem as worried as you."

"He's better at hiding things than I am. I mean, the two of you are a prime example of how good he is at hiding emotions."

Another corner turned. "What are you talking about?"

He shrugged. "Figure it out for yourself."

Lily racked her brains, but then gave up the subject because there were more important things to be doing than wondering at the cryptic workings of Sirius Black's head. As Gracie always said, "There's no use trying to understand an idiot."

She stopped walking. "We're here."

Sirius looked up from the ground, confused. This was not the 'here' he had be expecting. Had the girl lost it? "Erm….Lily? This is a broom closet. Not the Hospital Wing."

Lily sighed. "Technically speaking, it's a Vanishing Cabinet."

"So, that still means that we shouldn't be here…" Sirius trailed off as Lily drew her wand and pointed it directly at him.

"I'm sorry about this, Sirius." She backed him up against the wall, a smile rippling across her face. "It won't hurt, I promise."

Sirius' eyes widened and he looked for a way out, but there was none. The vixen had cornered him.

"What the hell, Evans? What are you doing?" Was all he could ask as she closed in on him.

"Padfoot, you are about to be pranked." She smiled at him, before waving her wand. "Stupefy!"

The meaning of her words didn't hit Sirius until the last millisecond before the spell hit him.

* * *

"Ouch!! Who the hell just elbowed me in the stomach?"

"Watch it, punk!"

"Padfoot?"

"Moony? Wormtail?"

"Here!"

"Oh God, they got to you too."

"Oi, Black, you're stepping on my foot."

"Sorry, mate."

"Listen, Padfoot, do you remember how you got in here?"

"Erm….no. I remember looking for you, and then….nothing."

"Where's James?"

"Last time I checked, he was headed for Divination. Why?"

"Padfoot, you were supposed to light the fuse."

……

"Crap."

……

"It's still dark in here! I want my mommy!"

"Sirius do you have your wand?"

"Let me check….no."

"Great, just great."

"What are we going to do? We have to get to James and tell him to light the fuse before our prank goes completely downhill.

"Hm…."

"We're all facing death in a windowless, door less, dark room and you're worried about a prank, Lupin? Are you serious?!"

"No, I'M Sirius."

"Oh, for Christ's sake--!"

"Stop arguing, I'm thinking."

"Moony has spoken. Heed his words or face his wrath."

"Sirius, shut up…"

"I didn't say anything! That was Peter!"

"IT'S COLD!"

……

"Exactly how many boys are in here, Peter?"

"By now…I'd say about the entire male population minus James."

"Wait, this was the Marauderesses prank?"

"Pretty ingenious, huh?"

"To lock all men away and keep the Marauders from doing their prank? Well, if that's not a way to win a prankwar, I really don't know what is."

"Sirius, do you still have your mirror on you?"

"Which one? My vanity mirror or my secret-messages-to-Jamesie mirror?"

"The latter."

"There's a ladder in here? Then let's get out of here!"

"Shut up, Prewitt, I wasn't talking about that sort of ladder."

"Oh."

……

"So what's this about a mirror?"

"I can talk to James with it. We have to get James to light the fuse. We need to send out an S.O.S.!"

"What good will it do, Black? We'll still be stuck in here!"

"Look, Davies, we've got one chance at getting out of here and saving the male population from extreme embarrassment. Do you want the Marauders to lose the prankwar?"

"Well…no…but…"

"But nothing. Prongs is our only hope to get out of here. Remus, get over here. Davies, take the three guys closest to you and try to see if someone can find out where we are."

"How can we know if we're still on Hogwarts grounds?"

"We don't, but let's just try to find out, okay?"

* * *

Lily closed the doors to the Vanishing Cabinet with a smirk, feeling more triumphant than she had in a while. She walked quickly along the corridor, twisting and turning and heading up staircases until she came up to a blank wall, where two girls were seated on the floor.

"Sirius is in there." The red-head confirmed. "I almost felt bad when I had to relieve his memory of the last few minutes."

"We've had to do that with every guy. Talk about guilt." Emma replied, her ponytail shinning in the dim corridor lights. "It's all the same process, so we've gotten used to it, I suppose."

"Get a boy alone, stun him, wipe his memory of the last minute or so and shove him into the Vanishing Cabinet, which leads him into a dark, wide, door less and windowless Room of Requirement. Easier than eating, drinking and sleeping, in my opinion."

"We're genius." Lily grinned. "I brought you some food!" She reached in her bag and drew out a small container of chocolate cookies. "I'm sure they're better than those Cauldron Cakes…"

Gracie looked at her watch. "You probably want to return back to class and make sure no more boys are left. We just called the last two out on the intercom. Second year Slytherins. They started balling when we pulled out our wands on them."

"Alright, I'm going!" Lily laughed, hitching her bag up higher on her shoulder and then looking blankly at the room of requirement. "They're awfully quiet in there."

"It's soundproof." Gracie smiled sadistically, looking like she could sing. "An entire day without Sirius Black. This is better than heaven."

Throwing one last smile at her brilliant friends, Lily ran back to class. Everyone looked up at her as she reentered the room.

"Miss Evans," McGonagall looked sharply at her, "Where is Mr. Black?"

"We split up. I couldn't find Mr. Lupin or anyone else." Came her quick reply, just has she began to look concerned. "Sirius didn't come back?"

Professor McGonagall frowned. "No, he didn't."

Lily put on her most innocent face. "Oh, well, I'm sure he'll turn up."

The class was now entirely girls. The red-head noticed about half the seats were empty and was about to internally congratulate herself and her fellow Marauderesses when the bell rang. The day was finally over.

As soon as she exited the classroom, Lily wanted to burst into dance and song. With the boys gone and unable to vote, the girls were going to win by a landslide. It was inevitable.

It was then that Lily should have realized who she was dealing with.

* * *

James was scared. James was angry. James was confused. James was leaving his last class of the day without a single ounce of Marauder spirit as he saw that every person around him was a girl.

Where was Sirius? The prank needed to be starting any minute now, and soon McGonagall would be leaving her office to get her afternoon cup of tea. What if Sirius had gone missing too?

James ran a hand through his hair and glanced around frantically. There was not a single bloke in sight.

Just as he considered heading back to the dorms to look for Sirius, something buzzed in his pocket and a voice sounded.

"Prongs! You there!?"

It was with immense relief that he pulled a small mirror out of his trousers, nearly bursting into laughter when he saw Sirius' face.

"Padfoot, I thought you were a goner!" The Head Boy joked.

Sirius' face remained as impassive as stone. "Listen Mate, I'm not able to light the fuse. You have to light it."

"I…wait…WHAT?!"

A third year walked by James, casting him an odd look as he talked to a mirror. He turned away from her.

"Prongs, you know how all the guys have been vanishing?"

James blinked, "Well, yeah. I'm now the only guy left!"

"We suspect this is the Marauderesses doing, because none of the girls have vanished, and all the guys have. Except you."

"Okay. So, what do I do?" James felt his heart pounding. To some, it may seem ridiculous to get this intense when it comes to pranking, but this was no ordinary pranking about to be done.

"You have to go to McGonagall's office, say 'Lumos' and simply touch the tip of your wand to the fuse."

"And then?"

"Isn't it obvious? You get the hell out of there before the fireworks set off. You don't want to be hit by the extra ingredient we added, do you?"

"No…okay, then what?"

"Well, mate, I would say come bust us out of here. But we don't exactly know where 'here' is. It's dark, cold, and windowless and door less."

"I know where you are." James said.

"You what?!"

"You're in the Room of Requirement. Think about it, Padfoot, the Marauderesses need to stick you somewhere where they can keep an eye on you and not have to worry about you getting out. All they had to do was make a room with no doors and no windows that Vanishing Cabinets could lead to."

"That makes sense." Came Remus' voice from out of the mirror, though his face was not visible. "But how do we get out? The entrance to the room is probably guarded by Marauderesses."

"Make them come in." James said. "Do anything. Smash anything, make noise, and scream. Once I set the fuse off, I'll try and get to you guys, okay?"

"Are you sure you've got this James?" Sirius' grey eyes looked concerned.

A hard glint shown in James' face. "I've got this, Padfoot. Over and out."

"Over and out, Prongs."

James shoved the mirror in his pocket and double checked to make sure he had his wand. It took him two additional seconds to shove his book bag behind a statue and hope that no harm would come to it.

Without a further word, he took off towards the transfiguration classroom.

It was pranking time.

* * *

"GREETINGS LADIES." The intercom was on again, and every girl was listening with rapt attention. "IF YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED, OUR LEVELS OF TESTOSTERONE FILLED STUDENTS SEEMED TO HAVE LESSENED CONSIDERABLY. DON'T WORRY, THEY'LL BE BACK TONIGHT. BUT BE SURE TO ENJOY YOUR BOY-FREE HOURS. AND VOTE FOR THE MARAUDERESSES! THANK YOU."

Lily expected girls to hate the prank, because so many were dependent on boyfriends and brothers. But it came as an astonishing fact when they all burst into hoots and applause. It was a rather liberating fact, and Lily couldn't help but cheer with them.

And then something caught her eyes that made everything grow considerably warmer and colder at the same time.

James Potter. Running at full speed down the hallway.

_Why is he not in the Room of Requirement? Where is he going? _Questions whirled in Lily's head, making it hard to think straight.

She didn't have time to talk to Gracie or Emma about this. She had to stop him from setting off the prank. She didn't know much about said prank, but she did know that if he managed to set it off, the Marauderesses were sure to get their arses kicked big time.

So she ran after him.

It's hard to follow someone and stay unnoticed when they are so extremely fast. Lily tried to stick to the shadows, but she was nearly panting with exertion by the time James quietly ducked behind a tapestry near the Transfiguration classroom.

He stood there for five minutes and Lily started to think that he had disappeared or had simply gone mad. James was staring at Professor McGonagall's door with a rare intensity.

Lily waited for something to happen. Suddenly McGonagall walked out of her classroom and shut the door, decidedly not locking it. The red-head could only guess how many vultures were perched in her class.

The teacher walked to the staff lounge and James moved from behind the tapestry. Without a glance backwards, he drew his wand and entered the classroom. Lily followed him, thinking 'What are you up to, James?' all the while.

James went behind McGonagall's desk and went into her office. Lily waited just outside the open door, listening.

The Marauder didn't hesitate in reaching to the top of the filling cabinet. For a moment, he was groping air, and then something clicked.

The room was suddenly lined with boxes and boxes of fireworks. Wired together and tangled in intricate ways that looked rather complex. James new that they had been there all along, and around the entire castle as well. He raised his wand and muttered 'Lumos'.

Something landed on his head. Another on his arm. The room was suddenly full of screeching birds, knocking James around and disarming him. He cursed and tried to yank them off, but the Goblin-Animagi held steadfast to his limbs, talons almost piercing his arm.

He was for sure going to fail. The Marauders were going to lose the prankwar. James saw the entire operation crashing around his ears and wanted to yell in exasperation. They were going to get their arses beat by three girls.

"IMMOBULOUS!" A voice suddenly cried.

The Vultures froze, releasing James' arms and floating around the air while blinking wildly. James staggered upwards and looked up, grinning widely when he saw Lily standing in front of him, looking out of breath. Her shoulders heaved and her hair looked a little mussed, though it was still up in that ponytail.

"Oh, thank God, Lily. I owe you my life." James smiled at her and then reached for his wand on the floor.

She kicked it out of the way.

"Erm, Lily?" James walked forward. "I need that for the prank. I have to light the fuse and then go let the guys free. Can you believe the Marauderesses are behind all this?"

"Yes." She said flatly. "I can."

"Well, in any case, I need my own wand." He reached for it again.

She raised her own and pointed it at his face.

"Lily," James' eyes narrowed, "What are you doing?"

"What I have to do, James." She replied, biting her lip. This felt wrong to her, disarming James and putting her wand to him.

"Let me start the prank." He demanded, feeling a prick of irritation.

"No. I can't let you." Guilt trickled into her lungs.

"And why not?" James glowered.

"James, don't ask questions. Just get out of here." Lily said evenly.

"Answer me this, Lily." James began, easing towards her in hope she could grab her wand. "Do you know how all the guys disappeared?"

She shook her head, eyes bright again. It took James less than a second to know she was lying.

"What do you know?" He growled, trying to distract Lily. She trembled at his sudden anger and the guilt seemed to suffocate her. Not knowing why, Lily wanted to suddenly tell James everything. But she continued lying away.

"I don't know anything. I'm just trying to get you out of here before McGonagall comes in here and lands the both of us in eternal detention."

"Liar." James accused before lunging at Lily, knocking her over.

When their friendship had first started, James had promised Lily he would never hurt her. But in that very second where he basically tackled her down, he broke that promise. Lily was barreled over, banging her head rather sharply on the wall as James reached for his wand.

In a flash, the two of them were standing up again, both holding wands directed at the other and breathing hard.

"Why are you being so stupid, Lils?" James asked.

"Why are you being so stubborn?" She retorted.

"Just let me start the prank. Then we'll leave." He promised.

She shook her head vigorously. "Don't even try. I'll have to stun you, James."

"Then do it!" He roared, furious. Why was she acting this way? So odd for her.

She shook her head angrily. "I…I can't."

As she shook her head repeatedly, the white-sequined ribbon bounced vigorously. Glancing at it, James suddenly had a flashback of the Christmas Ball, when the Marauderesses had made exploding balloons full of white sequins and Lily, Gracie and Emma had worn those identical white-sequined masks.

In an instant, not even a second, something in James' head clicked.

* * *

"Okay, guys! We're going to try this again. On the count of three! ONE! TWO! THREE!"

"HEEEELLLLLLPPPPP!!!!"

………

"It didn't work, Moony!"

"That's probably because they made this particular Room of Requirement sound-proof."

"So now what?"

"Now we wait, and hope to God that James doesn't get detained in getting us the hell out of here."

…………

"My feet hurt!"

* * *

James' eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head. There was a sharp intake of breath. Lily watched him as if she could see the gears of his head turning.

"You're a…" He trailed off. There was no need to say it, because her expression confirmed it all.

There are, as always, points in a story when a moment (whether it is a bad or good moment) is ruined by the entrance of another character or plot twist. In our story, it seems that this particular moment (We are unable to classify whether it is good or bad) has been interrupted by both a plot twist and a character. Because at this precise moment, when Lily and James were facing off and James was in the process of discovering Lily's secret identity, the door to the office exploded.

As in, blew completely off the hinges.

"AH HA!" McGonagall cackled, flicking her wand and sending the criminals' wands to the floor. "Caught at last!"

James stood there, not sure who he was supposed to gape at, Lily or McGonagall. He had valid reasons for both.

"I knew something was up when you were the only boy left still visible in class, Mr. Potter." She began. "And, as always, I expected Ms. Evans to trail after you. It's just all too easy, I thought to myself. I came here to check on my vultures, and what do I find?" She let out a bark of laughter. "A Marauder AND a Marauderess!"

James' eyes flickered over to Lily, who was staring back at him. Though he was temporarily furious with her and more confused than he'd ever been in his life, there was no choosing sides at this point: He and Lily had to get out of there.

"Now, we'll go find the rest of your Marauder friends." McGonagall said cheerily, looking quite mad and she bounced about the office in plan. "And then your little Marauderess friends. And then I'll haul you all off to Dumbledore's office before you can say 'Prank'. Oh, you will all be in such trouble." She laughed again. "Such wonderful, wonderful trouble."

James was looking at Lily and thinking of a way out of this. He was considering simply making run for it when Lily suddenly winked at him. She was up to something. As always, his Lily had a plan.

He clearly hadn't expected her to pass out after that thought, but she did anyway.

"Miss Evans?" McGonagall stopped mid-rant, walking over to her. "Are you alright?"

James walked over to her hurriedly but stopped as Lily let out a snore. _Lily doesn't snore._ She was faking it, and in a flash, James understood what was going to happen in about three seconds.

McGonagall bent over Lily when suddenly the red-head tackled the teacher down. She had two options of what to tell James to do. But suddenly, the guilt took control and her affections for James fought down her urge to stop the Marauders' prank. This, and a sudden mad rush of mischievousness had Lily pinning down McGonagall and screaming, "NOW JAMES! LIGHT THE FUSE!"

There were many things James could have said in that second. But neither 'Thank you' nor 'Marry me' seemed appropriate at the moment, so James simply brought new meaning to the phrase 'Actions speak louder than words'.

He grabbed his wand, yelled 'LUMOS!' and brushed it over the fuse on top of the filling cabinet.

McGonagall, looking rather dazed and mussed as she sat up, took one look at the sparking fuse and immediately went to try putting it out. But it was no use, and James knew it. It was a no-snuff fuse. Once it was lit, there was no stopping it.

Lily stood up, grabbed her own wand and stuffed it in her jeans. She took once glance at the Transfiguration Teacher and then one at James, who offered her a small smile.

Then McGonagall rounded on them, with all malevolence of a mad dog.

Without a second thought on the matter, Freckles and Prongs bolted out of the office.

What happened next, both Lily and James would agree, was just like an action scene out of a movie, with the world falling around their ears. The corridor was full of people (all girls), yet no one seemed to take notice of them as they sprinted past. In fact, the other students didn't even seem to see them at all. Their eyes were for an entirely different matter. One of considerably larger proportions.

Yes, we mean the fireworks.

Each room, closet, tapestry, and window exploded with fireworks, setting of a cacophony of sound and color that brought instant pandemonium to the hall. Teachers ran pell mell, unsure which to try and do first, get the students out or put out the fireworks.

As each box of fireworks exploded the girls squealed as something splattered across their skin and hair, wet and rather sticky: permanent paint of many colors.

Between the screams, running footfalls, explosions, and bits of firework debris flying everywhere, one could say that the situation was completely out of control. Others would say the prank was going exactly according to plan. But no matter what opinion was given, it was clear the Marauders had outdone themselves again.

James looked back at it and whistled, punching the air and whooping as the fireworks continued down the hallway—classroom by classroom-- towards him and Lily. Not wanting to get splattered with ink, James grabbed the red-head's hand and pulled her up the staircase, just as McGonagall rounded the corner, screeching "GET THEM!"

Lily vaguely heard the sound of wings flapping and cursed; the vultures had been sent after the two of them.

"TURN LEFT!" James roared, yanking Lily after them. All around them fireworks were going off and causing more discord and din by the second. Yet it didn't stop James from rounding on Lily as they turned the corner.

"You're a Marauderess?!" He shouted disbelievingly, feeling more questioning then confusing. "You're a Marauderess and you never told me?!"

"I believe that's the whole point of a secret identity, James!" Lily yelled back before flicking her wand over her shoulder and yelling. "Petrificus totalus!" at one of the vultures.

"Nice shot." He grunted as they mounted a level of stairs.

"Thanks."

A pause, more explosions and screaming.

"I just can't believe it!" James yelled, throwing his hands up in the air. "All this time, you were our sworn enemy. And we never managed to catch you!"

"Hey, there have been some close calls." Lily huffed, clutching at a cramp at her stomach; they were still running at top speed.

James heard a heavy flap of wings and yelled, "Lily duck!" just as the raptors descended on the red-head's shoulders and hoisted her up.

Lily screamed and kicked her feet, but the talons would not relinquish their grip. James whipped his wand out and shouted, "Impedimenta!" sending the vultures flying off as Lily fell fifteen feet onto the staircase, crumpling at the bottom.

"Lily!" James ran over to her. "Oh, God, I've killed her. Why did I do that? Stupidstupidstupidstupid."

"Ugh…" The red-head rolled over.

"Lils? Talk to me! How many fingers?" He held up a hand.

"Um…three."

James nodded, "You're head is alright then. Okay, let's go."

Lily started to stand up, but then cried out, clutching her ankle. James knelt by her again.

"I think my ankle is broken. Or sprained." She grunted heavily, wincing as James examined it.

"Okay." The Head Boy racked his brains for another plan. He could leave her here to the unfortunate wrath of McGonagall, or he could force her to walk with a bad ankle, or he could carry her. "Get on my back, Lily."

"You can't carry me, James." Lily said flatly. "I won't let you."

"Look," James said agitatedly, "We don't have time to play domestic couple and argue about this. Either you get on my back or get eaten alive by McGonagall."

The red-head looked conflictedly down the hall; hearing screams and shrieks from the Transfiguration professor and then back at James, his hazel eyes imploring her to listen to him. Lily sighed.

"Alight," She struggled to stand, "Hoist me up."

James swung her on his back and she locked her limbs around him. He turned to grin at her. "You cover for the extermination of the vultures, okay?"

She nodded, tucking her chin on his shoulder and whispering in his ear (Which James believed to be very distracting), "Okay."

And then they were off, James sprinting with the tiny Lily on his back, narrowly missing some fireworks that were going off and splattering paint anywhere.

"Where are we headed?" Lily shouted above the sound.

"The Room of Requirement, to set free the guys, who you so graciously imprisoned." James answered back shortly.

Lily sighed. "They're not there."

James stopped and turned to her so their noses were almost touching, "What?!"

"We programmed the room only to open when the Marauders prank went off!" Lily explained. "But for some reason, Gracie and Emma—the other Marauderesses-- saw fit to not capture you. That's why I came after you, because you weren't supposed to be prancing about."

"Gracie and Emma are in on this too?" James asked conversationally, changing his navigational tactics and taking another staircase, this time down. If they could get to the Heads Dorms and hide out until the Prankwar score was tallied that night…

"Of course." Lily explained, "Frown and Midnight."

Pieces to an unexplained puzzle were clicking so understandably now. "So, you're Freckles?"

"Guilty." The red-head confirmed. "Turn right, James. No, RIGHT!"

James wheeled around. "Quit being the backseat driver!"

"Sorry, but I don't trust your ways of getting about this castle!"

"I'm a Marauder." He huffed.

"And I'm a Marauderess."

A firework went off right behind them, causing Lily to yelp and bury her face in James' neck, which was even more distracting and caused his heart rate to triple.

"Erm…Lils?" James began uneasily, not sure what he wanted her to do: stay right there and risk him dying of a coronary or move and risk losing half his adrenaline.

"Sorry." She pulled back and paused. "And James?"

"Yeah?" He breathed heavily, taking them up another staircase.

"I know that you know who the Marauderesses are and will probably not want to keep that fact to yourself, but could you at least wait until the Prankwar is over to do that?"

James Potter was at a point where he honestly didn't care who won the Prankwar (Well, not THAT much, at least.) or who the Marauderesses were. He just wanted to get the hell away from McGonagall and a lifetime in detention. He nodded vigorously, earning a winning grin from Lily.

Suddenly, cheers erupted from around them. The Hogwarts portraits were cheering Lily and James on, sprinting along with them and shouting things like, 'That's a girl!' and 'Way to go Potter!'. Even the ghosts, almost transparent, were whooping and kicking up their heels in joy, shouting, "Run away, Marauder and Marauderess!"

James saw the door to the Gryffindor common room and heard Lily crow in relief. It was feet away when suddenly, the Portrait hole opened and who should come sprinting out for them, but Gracie, Emma, Sirius, Remus and Peter.

Both duo and quintet stared at each other for a flat minute before screaming, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

McGonagall shrieked again, rounding the corner and James yelled, "We don't have time to explain. We just need to run!"

No one failed to comply or agree with that statement. The groups joined as one and took off for the nearest escape point; the astronomy tower. Everyone was gabbling at once and it suddenly seemed pointless to even bother to explain the situation because no one could hear each other through the sound of explosions and screams and voices.

But Lily's ears did hear the wing beats behind her and decided that one thing did need to be said. "VULTURES!"

James felt Lily's weight lessen as the birds lifted her again and let out a strangled yell as he grabbed hold of her waist, motioning for Sirius and the others to the same.

After a short struggle, the vultures gave up and let the prankers tumble to the floor. Lily cried out again as she hit the floor and Gracie let forth a stream of curses.

"Get up!" Remus shouted. "The madwoman is on her way!"

"No need to tell me twice!" Sirius shouted back, offering Gracie a hand up. "C'mon, Marauderesses, no need to lag behind!"

James looked over Lily's shoulder once she had climbed on his back once more, wincing. "I suppose you guys know?"

"It didn't take them long!" Emma yelled as the group returned to sprinting. "The Room of Requirement suddenly opened and the guys came pouring out. Grace and I tried to sneak off to the bathroom, but they caught us and forced us to explain ourselves I guess Remus had had a haunch about us, Lils."

Lily sighed and leaned into James a little more; all the work on keeping the secret for nothing.

"Up the staircase!" Peter demanded shrilly, leading the group.

"They tried to fight us, but our charm was too much for them!" Sirius said breezily.

"My arse!" Gracie yelled. "They had to threaten to turn us in before we explained anything about what exactly was going on."

"But in turn," Remus assured, "We promised not to tell anyone about who the Marauderesses are until the prankwar score is revealed tonight."

The group was quiet for a while, concentrating on the long winding staircase and resuming pace when they got to the top, going down the long hallway. The paintings and ghosts continued to cheer them on all the way.

"Looks like we're famous." James told Lily, who—despite her immense pain—laughed.

The Marauders and Marauderesses suddenly stopped, lost for words as they came upon a blank wall.

"SHIT!" Gracie and Sirius yelled simultaneously. "A dead end!"

"There has to be another way out!" Lily hopped off James' shoulders and limped over to the wall. "A secret passageway, maybe?"

"We never thought to look for one here!" James answered back. "And don't put weight on that foot, Lils."

"It's not my fault you let me fall to the floor!" The red-head snapped irritably. "And not my fault that we've been running and screaming ourselves hoarse for the last ten minutes since you lit the bloody fuse on your bloody effing prank!"

"Because you told me too!" James defended.

"Wait a minute!" Gracie marched between the two of them. "You mean this whole time that Em and I let James not be captured that the two of you have been frolicking about and nothing else?!"

"What were we supposed to be doing?" Lily yelled at the brunette. "I was trying to capture the bloody prat!"

James glanced at the end of the hallway, where he could hear the distant explosions going off.

"You weren't supposed to capture him!" Emma joined in on the yelling.

Lily winced as she paced back and forth angrily. "Then what the hell was I supposed to do?!"

A pause; everyone but James looked at Lily like she was the biggest idiot on the face of the earth.

"Hm…I don't know…" Sirius began. "I think the word SNOGGING would cover it."

"Snogging?" James asked irritably. "What does snogging have to do with any of this?"

"You see?" Gracie shouted, walking up to stand next to Sirius and gesturing furiously between Lily and James. "The two of you are so thick headed that you couldn't have possibly gotten together on your own, so Emma and I decided to leave James out of the equation of capture so Lily would have to deal with him and maybe you two would finally get the message that you are both crazy in love with each other and do some snogging!"

Lily blushed and James looked at the floor. "Guys, we're just mates."

Gracie blinked at them and then turned to Sirius. "You know what, Black? I changed my mind. You're not the biggest dumb arse in the world. They are."

Lily suddenly lost all control of her emotions and confusion and everything else that was racing through her mind. Her ankle was throbbing, her head was pulsing, and it sure as hell didn't look like they'd be getting out of this argument any time soon.

"I can't believe this! We're in the middle of a bloody prankwar, running from our stark raving mad teacher and trying to save ourselves, and you're worried about whether or not I have snogged James today?!"

"YES!" They all screamed at her, except for James, who was still staring at the floor.

"It's like this, Lily and James." Emma explained as she paced between the two of them, "Before I die, I want to see the two of you admit your bloody feelings because we," She gestured at herself, Sirius, Remus, Gracie, and Peter, "Have been putting up with your antics for months now. And if someone—I don't care which one of you does it first—doesn't admit their feelings for the other right now, then you neither of you ever will."

Lily opened her mouth, but then stopped when she saw Emma's expression. She glanced at James, who was looking at her with that rare emotion again.

"Say it." Gracie demanded.

"Say what?" Lily asked, feeling ridiculous. Why here and now, of all the bloody times and places?

"Say you want to snog James." Sirius answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Lily stood there, feeling more embarrassed and flustered than she ever had her entire life. It was comical, how they were forcing her to do this against her own will, and in the bluntest of ways.

"I have to say those words exactly?" Lily asked, hoping that wasn't the case.

"DO IT!" Sirius yelled.

The red-head gulped and shook her head, feeling utterly stupid and small as she faced the Head Boy.

"I want to snog you, James." Lily said quietly, biting her lip and clenching her fists.

James looked at her for a moment and then back at his friends, hardly hearing his own ears. "Do I really have to say it like that as well?"

"Yes!" Sirius yelled. "It sounds less mushy gushy."

James rolled his eyes and then looked at Lily, balancing on one foot in her 'Marauderess' t-shirt and jeans and staring at him. And then he smiled, and laughed at the absurdity of this situation.

"I want to snog you, Lily." James said flatly, coloring. "If you didn't know that before, well, you do now."

The room breathed awkwardness, but Gracie burst into cheers and applause all the same. "Good, now you two lovebirds can organize a date and stop being so stupid." A pause. "You guys can hug each other, now. Save the actual snogging for when we've left the room."

_Remind me to never let my friends intervene on my love life ever again._ Lily told herself, blushing and limping over to James while looking up at him. He grinned down at her, a dazzling grin that she couldn't help but copy.

She hugged him, and instantly the awkwardness that the friends had created melted away. It was just James, Lily thought. A James that, once this craziness was over with, she would be dating. He lifted her off the floor so her weight was no longer on her ankle and pulled her closer.

They let go, but Lily kept her body close to James' as she faced her friends with a furious glare. Bloody meddlers.

"Happy now?" She asked. "We hugged."

Sirius gasped overdramatically and then grinned knowingly at Gracie. "And I suppose you're still just mates?"

Lily opened her mouth to answer that question but then stopped, unsure of what to say. Somehow, saying the words 'I want to snog you' didn't feel exactly like committing to anything more than just mates. She locked eyes with James, who was bearing the expression of a person on an overdose of laughing gas, and was sort of happy she wasn't the only one who felt that the floor was spinning. How was she to answer that question?

The Head Girl faced her Head Boy and put a hesitant smile on her face. "Well?"

James was surely going to faint, or, at least, find himself waking from an absolutely wonderful dream. NONONONONONONONONONONONO. His mind screamed the answer to Sirius' question a thousand times over in a single second. All he had to do was open his mouth and say one word…

"THERE YOU ARE!" Came a voice from the end of the hallway from whence the group had just come. McGonagall stood victoriously. "Marauderesses and Marauders both!"

In an instant she disarmed the group and began to leisurely stride down the hallway towards them.

"Shall we go to the Headmaster's office, now then?" She asked, looking like a slightly crazed banshee.

No one answered, only standing stalk still. Right now, there were no sides. It was just prankers against teacher.

"We're going to have to go with her." Emma muttered.

"Because we have so many other options, of course." Gracie muttered sarcastically.

"Goodbye world!" Peter sobbed into his sweater as Remus patted him on the shoulder.

Sirius sighed. "My dear Mother's going to be pleased with me when she hears about this one."

Lily didn't say much, merely shaking on her broken ankle. There goes her career as an auror. There goes her near flawless record. With each step McGonagall made towards them, Lily saw a week's worth of detentions added to her list.

Then a hand slipped inside of hers and Lily looked up to see James giving her a small smile. A surge of reassurance rushed through her. It was going to be alright. At least, it would with James by her side.

And together they turned to face their ultimate doom as Professor McGonagall led them to the Headmaster's office.

* * *

**A/N: I am aware that this is a rather horrible cliffhanger but here's the thing. It's a VERY long chapter (10, 719 words). And the second to last chapter as well , so I thought I would put you guys on the edge of your seats, alright? Because I happen to be very sadistic when it comes to ending chapters. :P You may also note the horrible awkwardness of Lily and James and their confessions of affections. It's on purpose people. I would never pull something as gruesome as that if it wasn't for a reason. It's going to play into the story later and I won't just leave it at that. Pinky swear.**

**So, do leave a review (Is it too much to ask to get to 300 hundred reviews? Please?), because I rather like those and tell me which prank you liked the best. ALSO, check my profile out for information on when the next chapter is coming out. I'm leaving town for two weeks so I apologize in advance for the long wait for the last chapter. **


	20. Marauders and Marauderesses

**A/N: Before you read this chapter, we should all bow down to my amazing beta, Allie. Without her amazing concrit, this chapter would be ten times crappier and would be dying from lack of semi-colons and edits. So please, bow down, because she is amazing! Thanks, Al!**

* * *

Professor Dumbledore's office was not usually this full. True, the occasional student and/or staff member would end up in there with a complaint or punishment to be given. But apart from the many portraits that adorned the walls and magical objects that covered the cluttered desk, the Headmaster's office was always relatively peaceful and unoccupied by groups larger than three. It was an unprecedented constant at Hogwarts.

That very same constant ceased to exist, James Potter noticed, as soon as the Marauders, Marauderesses and McGonagall had come marching in.

They had been sitting there for almost half an hour already, listening to McGonagall list every offense that both groups committed. James sat there in his chair, drumming his fingers and throwing occasional glances at his friends, feeling more and more uneasy as time ticked by. Considering the rather tight space in the room, the Marauders and Marauderesses were packed rather tightly together in their chairs. Professor Dumbledore sat behind his desk; his fingertips peaked in front of his face as he stared at each of the students, not seeming to even be listening to McGonagall's rant.

Lily sat with her wounded foot propped up on another chair, since she had yet to go to the hospital wing. Every time she shifted in her chair she winced in pain and James would look worriedly over at her.

"In conclusion, these students have committed enough offenses for today, don't you think?" McGonagall finished, readjusting her sleeve. "Pranking, breaking and entering, using firearms in school, tackling a teacher, as well as countless others add up to suspension. Maybe even expulsion."

At these words the seven pranksters looked at each other in horror. Expulsion?

"And do you think that is the proper punishment for them, Minerva?" Dumbledore asked, not taking his crystalline eyes from the students.

The Deputy Headmistress eyed the Marauderesses and Marauders both and then shook her head decidedly. "No, I don't think that deserves expulsion."

James felt his jaw drop and heard an intake of breath from Lily. McGonagall glanced their way as she continued. "But, however, I do think they deserve a Saturday detention every weekend for the rest of the year for three hours each."

In a moment of shock and silence, Lily could have sworn she saw McGonagall smile. Actually SMILE, in a non-sadist way, before turning to Professor Dumbledore. "Of course, their parents will be contacted as well about this offense, but just for the sake of personal shame. And house points will be taken away."

Dumbledore nodded. "I respect that decision."

"But Professor…" Gracie spoke up, looking confused.

The Headmaster acknowledged her with a nod of his head.

"That's it? I mean, we honestly thought you were going to stick us in a chamber with…I don't know, a three headed dog or something."

Professor Dumbledore chuckled lightly and leaned slightly forward in his seat. "No, Ms. Harlow. We have no intentions of putting any students in physical pain, although the thought of a chamber with a three headed dog has a certain appeal to it, I must say." He smiled at the group as a whole. "I see it this way. It's your last year, exams are coming up, and Merlin knows we could all use something to relieve our stress and take our mind off off recent events with the war. If anything helped to get us through the year as a school, it was your…erm…Prankwar, was it?"

Remus nodded and the rest of the group simply gaped.

"Now then," McGonagall began briskly, opening the door to the office, "I would be obliged if you would all get Ms. Evans to the infirmary so she can get her ankle fixed. And get some rest before midnight tonight."

"Tonight?" James raised an eyebrow as he helped Lily to her feet. "What about curfew?"

McGonagall smiled her second normal smile that day. "Mr. Potter, do you honestly think I will have the energy to try and force the entire school back into their beds when there are clearly more pressing matters at hand, such as discovering the winner of the prankwar?"

Sirius opened up his mouth as if to say something but Gracie elbowed him with such force that he had no choice but to walk quickly out of the office.

"Thank you, Professors." Emma whispered, leaving as well with Remus trailing behind.

James left with Lily, her leaning against him and limping along. The door closed behind them with a soft click. Professor McGonagall turned to her employer, shaking her head.

"I was too easy on them, I'm sure." The transfiguration teacher sighed. "But I can't help it. I've always had a soft spot for favorite students."

"Who can blame you, Professor?" Dumbledore smiled, before reaching about his desk as McGonagall turned to walk out. "Oh, and Minerva? Do you happen to have an extra quill? That three headed dog idea really was quite brilliant. It would serve as excellent in security…"

* * *

"This is the second time in a week—THE SECOND TIME!—that the pair of you have shown up at my door." Madam Pomfrey shouted, practically dragging Lily over to a bed. "Unbelievable! The Head Boy and Girl, supposedly the least troublesome pair in the school, are now my most frequent patients! This is completely unacceptable!"

James merely shrugged sheepishly at Pomfrey, secretly rolling his eyes for Lily to see. It was true, however, they had been spending a little too much time in the hospital wing. The red head held back a smile as the Nurse bustled about and cursed under her breath.

"Thanks for carrying me the way up here." Lily whispered, blushing and looking down. James nodded and helped her onto a bed.

"It was nothing." He looked down as well.

Silence and awkwardness seeped between them for what seemed to be the billionth time in the past twenty four hours. Madame Pomfrey came back with a potion and some gauze.

"You'll need to take this potion, which may taste nasty, but will ensure you will be ready to stand again by about midnight. So, you'll be able to go to your prankwar judging event this evening."

Lily smiled warmly, already making herself comfortable against the pillows. "That's all I ask."

James looked at her, lips twisting into his own smile as Madam Pomfrey left with another muttered curse. "That was some adventure, huh Evans?"

The red head yawned and stretched out. "Quite, Potter. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to take this nasty potion and heal, please."

He reached for her hand and gave it a slight squeeze. "Alright then. I'll…er…see in a few hours." He opened his mouth to say something else, anything else that might bring up what had transpired in the North Tower that afternoon, but instead began to walk out.

"Bye, James." She replied, staring after him wistfully.

The door closed and Lily sank further into the cot with a sigh, covering her eyes with a hand and stifling a yawn. Her head suddenly throbbed and she eagerly grabbed the goblet on the bedside table. The minute the concoction hit her taste buds she visibly winced, but forced it down all the same. Eventually, the pain began to fade and Lily's mind let loose the events of the day so far to roam about her head. This morning seemed like ten years ago, and the rest of the day appealed to the Head Girl like a delightful yet terrifying dream.

James wanted to kiss her. _Kiss_. _Her_. Lily still couldn't get over that simple fact. It was insanity. It was too good to be true. But she still wanted to believe it. The red head sat up, staring at the door to the hospital wing as if her mental will alone would bring James back through the door.

Madam Pomfrey had watched the whole exchange from the other side of the room. Once the sound of James' footsteps faded, she promptly turned to Lily and said, "Barking mad, the whole lot of you. But still, I've never seen a more suited couple."

Lily gaped at Madam Pomfrey. Was it her imagination, or had the entire Hogwarts Faculty gone crackers? Pomfrey's sly grin definitely gave the answer to the question.

"Now, get some sleep, Miss Evans," the nurse commanded, walking away from her patient, "I'll wake you up when it's time to go and meet your friends."

Madam Pomfrey exited the room, leaving Lily all the more confused and flustered then ever before. Her hand tingled where James had touched it.

What was there to do about her and James? She wondered suddenly. She couldn't possibly keep pretending that they were still on the 'Just-Mates' boat. That specific boat had sunk—she knew for a fact—as soon as she had started having feelings for him at the beginning of the year. So now what?

The prankwar would soon be over, and Lily knew there would be no more beating around the bush with this. James and her were going to have to force themselves to _talk_, and get everything out there. Figure out what was going to happen between them. But hadn't they already done that earlier today? The mere thought of their friends' embarrassing interference with the relationship brought heat flooding through the red head's cheeks. Despite the pain killer potion she had just taken, her head started to throb again. In an effort to calm herself down, Lily pictured James' face beaming at her as he had been moments before.

And just like that, any worry that was present had vanished. Because as soon as she thought of him, Lily knew, she simply _knew_, what was going to happen after the prankwar. All those years in Divination had suddenly seemed to pay off because without a doubt, Lily Evans could see the future as clearly as she could see her gradually swelling ankle wrapped in gauze. She knew exactly what to do as soon as soon she got out of this godforsaken hospital wing and down to the fourth floor corridor. She knew exactly what to say to him and how to end this madness forever.

Lily's body thrummed with anticipation and energy and she squirmed in her cot. Because she had a plan and nothing and no one was going to stop her from carrying it out.

The red head sat still as a statue and waited, the smile growing on her face with each passing minute.

* * *

"Can I go now?" Lily pleaded three hours later, bouncing her unwounded foot impatiently.

"Just one minute, Miss Evans!" Pomfrey huffed, unwrapping the gauze around Lily's ankle before wincing. "You've got some pretty nasty bruises here, and it might be sore to walk on." She looked uncertainly at the swollen ankle. "Maybe we should keep you here for the night…"

"NO!" Lily shouted loudly, already starting to stand up. "Madam Pomfrey, you don't understand. I _have _to go to the final tally of points for the prankwar."

"Miss Evans, I don't want you to make this foot any worse." the nurse started to shove Lily back into sitting position. "I need you to sit still."

Lily suddenly felt a wave of hysteria sweep through her system, mixed with panic and eagerness to go to the fourth floor corridor. Eagerness to see the scoreboard. To see James. Lily fiercely grabbed Madam Pomfrey's shirt and yanked her down so they were eye to eye.

"Pomfrey," Lily began, her voice struggling to remain steady, "I'm aware that you want what's best for me. I'm also aware that my foot hurts badly. But most of all I'm aware that if I don't go to the fourth floor corridor right now, that I will never ever again get a chance to tell the Head Boy—yes, _the head boy_—that I love him. Because if I don't tell him tonight, I'll never be able to tell him. I'll never get up the courage again. And, Madam Pomfrey, I hate to be a holder of grudges, but do you really want to be the cause of my eternal misery?"

With a hard glint in her eyes, Lily stared down the Nurse, who looked rather shocked at this rather intense proclamation. With a sigh, Madam Pomfrey released Lily's hands from her shirt and stalked away. The red head visibly sagged in her cot and put her head in her hands. That was it. The chance to tell James how she felt disintegrated and Lily felt a sob build up in her chest, the exhaustion and pressure of the day finally coming to a climax.

"Do you know how to you use the muggle appliance titled 'crutches', Miss Evans?" Sounded Madam Pomfrey's voice from across the Hospital Wing.

Lily sniffed and raised her head, eyes widening in surprise when she saw Pomfrey standing before her, holding out the aforementioned muggle appliances.

"Y-yes." She answered, her voice shaking. "My sister once broke her leg and I used to steal her crutches when she wasn't looking and use them."

The Nurse looked the Head Girl up and down for a minute more, before saying, "As long as I see you back in this Hospital Wing once a day for the next week so I can check on your ankle, I can confidently clear you for the time being."

Lily hardly dared to breathe. She took the crutches from Madam Pomfrey and stood with them, a little wobbly but still able to stand. Practically overcome with emotion, Lily turned on Madam Pomfrey and smiled. "I would hug you right now, but I'm sure I would knock you over with the crutches."

The Nurse shrugged. "Just be careful not to jostle the leg at all." With a returned smile, she added. "And be sure not to do anymore running about the castle with Mr. Potter, alright?"

Lily nodded eagerly and took off as fast as the crutches could take her, swinging out of the hospital wing and calling out, "Thank you so much, Madam Pomfrey!" as she went.

The nurse stared after the red head, shaking her head fondly. "Like I said, absolutely barking mad."

* * *

The corridor was packed. Every student was standing in the throng, Marauderess supporters on one side and Marauder supporters on the other. Everyone wore their t-shirt and was shouting and cheering like the Dickens as the clock on the scoreboard ticked away. Only seven more minutes until the final score was announced.

The Marauders stood together, taking bets and selling last minute Support t-shirts. All around last minute voters were placing their weekly ballots in the tiny box set below the scoreboard, which was frozen until the final tally at midnight.

"I can't believe we cause this much of a ruckus!" Sirius crowed, taking money from Star Hughes (4th year Ravenclaw), who giggled at him. "Go Marauders!"

"I know, right?!" James shouted back, sharing a grin with Remus and Peter. "Who would have thought that boys from such humble beginnings could end up this popular?"

"Because, of course, there's no chance that it might also be the Marauderesses who are popular as well." Gracie laughed, walking up to the 'Bet Booth' wearing jeans and Marauderesses tank-top. Sirius stared for longer then necessary, needless to say.

"Where's Lily?" Emma asked, joining the group and looking just as fabulous in her own Marauderess tank-top and skirt combination.

"You mean she's not with you?" James' voice shot up several octaves in panic as he scanned the crowd for her.

"We thought she was with you!" Gracie snapped, looking worried. "You don't mean to tell me that she's _still_ in the hospital wing!?"

Sirius and Remus rounded on James. "Didn't Pomfrey say she was going to clear Lily so she could be here for the final score?"

James racked his brains for an answer, but found that he didn't recall much of the Hospital Wing conversation with Madam Pomfrey. He had been a little too busy watching Lily…

"I don't know!" James finally shouted, running a hand through his hair and pacing back and forth. "I mean, why wouldn't Pomfrey let Lily go? She's not THAT cruel, is she?"

Emma yanked James around by his collar. "Have you _met _Madam Pomfrey, James? You know, the psycho nurse who is rumored to be a sadistic torturer of students who annoy her by getting sick and hurt too much? Students like Lily Evans?!"

Remus pried Emma away from James and spoke calmly. "We should go get her, or at least try to find her."

"But we only have…" Peter looked at his watch, "Five minutes left! We won't make it to the Hospital Wing in time!"

James began to hyperventilate. "We have to have Lily here! She has to be here!"

"James, calm down!" Gracie snapped.

"I have to go find her!" James practically screamed, making the people around him stare. Maybe it was the pressure of the scoreboard looming above them, or a sudden bout of claustrophobia, but James started breathing faster them a hummingbird beats its wings and repeatedly running a hand through his hair.

He paced back and forth. "I'm going to go get Lily!" He turned and started to walk off, pushing the crowd apart in his haste. "Out of my way!"

"Tackle him!" Sirius roared as their friend tried to make a run for it.

At once, Gracie, Emma, Sirius, Remus and Peter did just that. There was a slight struggle and a few shouted curses and painful moans, but five against one is no match at all, as common sense lets us know. James was soon securely tied to the nearest pillar, and no one was bothering to let him go.

Besides, who would want to, what with the five dangerous wizards and witches guarding him?

"Let me go!" James demanded childishly, kicking and making a scene. "I need to find Lily!"

Emma, who looked just as worried as James himself, leaned over and said. "Look, I want Lily to be here as much as you do, but if she can't get here, she can't."

The Head Boy shook his head as if Emma's words were raindrops on his hair. Lily had to be there. She _had_ to.

* * *

Lily swung her crutches in front of her legs, going down two…three slights of stairs. If her watch was right, she had thirty seconds to get down another flight of stairs and around two corners to the scoreboard. And at the rate she was going, she wasn't going to make it to the next floor and get to her friends.

She stopped, bringing everything to a halt. She stood at the top of the last set of stairs, overlooking the whole event as if it was playing on a movie screen. Deciding to stick with the better view, Lily simply stood at the top of that staircase, taking a seat and watching the crowd below her. The boys had finally rejoined the girl population and everyone was cheering and screaming and stamping their feet. Even a few of the staff members stood on the outskirts of the crowd, looking rather eager themselves. Lily did a double take when she saw James firmly tied to a pillar and trying to get out, but realized it had to be for a reason.

Time trickled by and Freckles waited.

* * *

James looked around frantically for Lily. Twenty seconds to go. Yet within the whole crowd, there was not a single patch of red hair. His heart sank within his chest and his pulse turned to ice. How could she miss this? How could Madam Pomfrey not release Lily? James cursed the batty nurse with every swear word he could think of.

"If anyone has not voted today, please do so!" Sirius shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth.

Ten seconds until the polls closed.

The corridor began to slip into silence as everyone whispered to their friends to make sure everyone voted. It had seemed that there was no one left to vote for the Marauders or Marauderesses.

And then, just as James was wondering where Lily was for the fiftieth time, it began.

The scoreboard began to shudder and whir as numbers began rearranging themselves in a colorful pattern that made everyone gasp in anticipation.

Eight seconds.

Numbers were fixated. Everyone took in a collective breath. A few screams were heard as the score was finally visible.

Marauders: 876.

Marauderesses: 875.

James heard the cheers of euphoria and groans of misery from the girls before he saw the scoreboard. The Marauders were all hugging themselves and shouting. Gracie and Emma shook their heads in defiance.

"We still have seven seconds!" Gracie screamed at the top of her lungs. "Vote if you haven't!"

But then all of a sudden the crowd went silent. No one was coming to vote. It was really over.

Lily crossed her fingers and bit her lip, watching the crowd with rapt attention.

Six seconds.

It was then that the most wonderful thing happened.

It was so wonderful a thing that no one saw it coming.

Professor McGonagall strode into the corridor, giving everyone a level stare that made each student shrink back.

Three seconds.

James sucked in a breath and held it as McGonagall held up a single piece of parchment with a word written on it to her wand.

Two seconds.

One.

"Suffragium." McGonagall announced firmly, blinking once as the parchment vanished.

In an instant, all eyes moved from Professor to the scoreboard as it whirred for one last time.

And then, in what seemed to be a moment that lasted five thousand years or perhaps eons and eons, the last digit on the Marauderesses score changed from a five to a six.

A tie.

The transfiguration teacher looked about the crowd and—with a rather self satisfied smile—said, "Well, I guess that's that."

Screams louder than any explosion sounded from the girls around the room. Lily, up on her little perch, toppled over in mirth as she giggled and screamed with the rest of the crowd. Professor McGonnagall was officially her favorite person, teacher, role-model. Emma and Gracie hugged and soon went to the crowd of girls to celebrate with them (Discreetly, of course. No one knew who they 'were'.)

The boys stood there, utterly dumbfounded as absolute pandemonium erupted. But their complaints were drowned out by the girl's screams. It was all over. James' jaw must have been hanging open for quite some time, because it had been about a minute since the score had changed. McGonagall walked over to him, gave him a disapproving look and announced, "Mr. Potter, I know it will be hard to keep from partying, but do try and keep it to a minimum, all right?"

The Head Boy nodded dumbly, and McGonagall waved her wand and the ropes around James' body vanished. James walked slowly over to his friends, who were looking rather torn between the fact that they hadn't lost or won.

Sirius watched the girls in their jubilance, and a weak smile spread across his face. "At least we didn't lose!"

The gang smiled and all managed to whoop excitedly as they slapped their hands together in mid-air. "Marauders forever!"

A throng of students attacked the group, slapping them on the back and congratulating them. Several girls approached Sirius, batting their eyelashes and cooing patiently as Sirius tried to worm his way out.

James suddenly gasped as he remembered exactly why he had been tied to the pillar.

"Padfoot, Wormtail, Moony!" James had to shout to get their attention as the crowd hoisted them on their shoulders.

"Yeah, mate?" Remus yelled back, looking very uncomfortable in mid-air.

"I need to find Lily." James explained, already looking for her. "Can the three of you organize a party with Emma and Gracie without me alright?"

"Go get her, Prongs!" Sirius yelled. "Don't waste your time here with us!"

Without another word he took off, shoving through the crowd of screaming students as Sirius began calling attention to himself and announcing the celebration party.

* * *

Lily stood on her crutches, watching as the crowd swept up the Marauders on their feet. A smile still on her face from the sight of the scoreboard, Lily pulled some parchment from her pocket and quickly transformed a piece of dust into a quill.

Time to carry out the plan.

* * *

Running up the stairs, limbs burning with anticipation to see her, James completely forgot the prankwar and everything going on downstairs. Nothing else mattered much at that moment.

It took him all of two minutes to get to the Hospital Wing. He threw the Hospital Wing door open and stormed into Pomfrey's office, beside himself with anticipation to see his favorite Head Girl.

"Where's Lily?!" He roared.

Madam Pomfrey looked calmly up from her book and said, "Mr. Potter, I'm sitting right here. If you see fit to yell again, I will have to remove you."

James sat, glaring. "Why didn't you release Lily before midnight?"

The Nurse blinked. "I released Miss Evans from the hospital wing at exactly eleven forty five this evening. You did not see her?"

The Head Boy shook his head confusedly.

"Hmmmmmm. My impression from Miss Evans was that she really did want to speak to you. It was a matter of the up-most importance, I believe."

James stood up abruptly, already planning on where he was going to look for her first, and accidentally bumped into the table, knocking over a glass of pumpkin juice.

"Sorry," He reached in his pocket for his wand, so as to get rid of the spill on the carpet. But as he shoved his hand in his pocket, his fingers brushed against a piece of parchment, which he pulled out, not remembering have put any parchment in his pockets.

**_Prongs-_**

**_Did you miss me? Meet me in the Heads Dorm._**

**_-Freckles_**

It didn't take James even a second of thought to leave the Hospital Wing sprinting at full speed. His mind was a mile ahead of his legs, already opening the door to the portrait hole and imagining her standing there, red hair like a halo about her person. He streaked past hoards of cheering students, some who even tried to engage him in conversation, but it made no difference on his speed.

"Pranking Plonkers!" He shouted at the Fat Lady, who, looking rather affronted swung forward into the Gryffindor Common room.

Up another flight of stairs, James entered the Head's Dorms, chest heaving and not caring a wit about it.

"Lily?" There was no one in there; she was probably still on her way.

James took a seat on the couch and waited for what seemed like hours. The clock ticked by, the fire crackled and the spring breeze blew outside. The Head Boy tapped his foot impatiently. Seconds after what seemed like years, Lily came stumbling into the room, swinging herself in on a pair of what looked to be sticks.

"Lily!" James stood and a smile lit up his features, thought the smile faded when he saw the crutches she was standing with. "What are those for?"

"My foot," She answered quickly, as if it was of no importance. "I was surprised to see you here before I was. I sent the message not five minutes ago and it takes me double the time it takes you to get here."

The corners of James' lips quirked up in another smile and he blushed guiltily. "I can honestly say I was eager to see you. You weren't there to see the winner…well….winners of the prankwar and I thought that—"

"I did see it, James." She cut off him off. "I was at the top of the staircase when McGonagall dropped her ballot. I have to say I was a little more than shocked to find that the Marauderesses did not lose, as you had claimed they would."

"Yeah, well, I never claimed to be a seer." James laughed, running a hand through his hair.

They stood there for a moment. And like all the moments they had shared before, it was one in which their eyes met and a silent familiarity was exchanged between them.

"Lily—"

"James—"

They both cut each other off, and Lily plowed on, "It's obvious we need to talk."

"Because earlier," James finished her thought, "Our friends making us confess that we want to snog each other is clearly not going to fix all this…stuff."

"Yeah. Stuff." Lily agreed firmly, not daring to take her eyes from James' face. "In fact, it seemed to make things murkier. For me, at least. Because, James," She limped forward on the crutches, biting her lip, "I don't want to kiss you."

James' heart plummeted and he nodded, though the very action sent darts of ice into his bloodstream, "I understand. Just mates, got it." James had never believed hearts could break before this moment, but somehow the throbbing behind his rib-cage seemed to define it perfectly.

"That's not what I meant." Lily dismissed, shaking her head vigorously.

He looked up at her again, green eyes sparkling as they met his own. Every object, living or not seemed to hold it's breath in that room.

"I don't want to kiss you," She pressed on, "Just to kiss you. Just because I'm having some weird hormonal rush. I want to kiss you because I want to."

James was barely making any sense of this, but Lily continued, determined not to stop until she said all that she wanted to.

"I want to go on Hogsmeade dates with you, because after all those years you've asked me, I want to say yes. And I want to spend all my free time with you, doing whatever you want to do, whether that means snogging or homework or pranking innocent first years." She could feel her heart slamming in her chest and she could feel James looking at her and for some reason, it intimidated her less and spurred her on more. There really was no stopping.

"James," She gulped and made sure she didn't even glance at him. She didn't want to know what he was thinking right now, "I want to be with you whenever I can. And not because I want to snog you, or because you're my best friend or because I know I'll go absolutely crackers if I do anything else, but because I love you, James."

She paused, and then repeated it again; knowing repetition would make her feel braver. "I love you."

The phrase hung in the air and neither of them was brave enough to approach it for a few seconds. But Lily shook her head, convincing herself there was no turning back, and glanced at him. The way James was looking at her, stoic and impossible to read, made her want to run from the room.

And then he smiled a dazzling smile that made Lily's knees turn all but to jelly.

"Finally," Came his reply, in a relieved and ecstatic sigh, hazel eyes glinting behind his glasses.

That was all the answer she needed.

And though it seemed to be going off a rather high and dangerous limb, Lily let go of her crutches, letting them clatter to the floor. She took two awkward, stumbling steps towards James and threw her arms around him, not even caring if they both toppled to the hard floor as she leaned up and her lips pressed to his own. She would have fallen had he not been there to catch her.

As the first kiss, it was bumbling, hurried, and slightly thrown off balance as they fell back onto the couch. But one kiss became two, three, four, fifteen, and James was suddenly not caring about any awkwardness at all. Fire danced between their meshing lips and Lily's hands (which had been running hungrily through his increasingly tousled hair) were driving him crazy.

Lily had come to find that her plan had worked out better than she had wanted it too. Judging by the enthusiasm with which James gave and received kisses, everything was working out. But Lily couldn't really pay attention to that. Her head was too busy spinning with an onslaught of color and noise that all seemed perfectly choreographed with the way James' mouth moved against hers.

Both agreed silently that this had been put off for far too long.

They—in desperate need for oxygen—had to separate for a second, but James continued kissing Lily, just to make sure she was really there. That this was really happening. A kiss on her nose, her forehead, her freckled cheek, her jaw line…Lily's face was soon warm from something that was not unlike blushing.

"James," She muttered as he continued kissing her, moving down to her collarbone and making her shiver, "I know I sound mad right now, which is fine. But I want you to promise that this will work out."

"That what will?" He murmured against her lips, feeling like a drunken man having to concentrate on walking a straight line. She has that much of an effect on him.

"Us." She breathed, submerging in his lips once more.

He suddenly pulled away, looking very serious and completely sober. "What makes you think it won't?"

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Oh, please James. We'll fight, and drive each other mad, and probably get on each other's nerves more than half the time like we always do."

James smiled slowly, cupping her cheek. "I love you Lily, you know that right?"

She wasn't surprised to hear it after all the kissing they had just gone through, but the sound of the words themselves sent a fresh wave of warmth through Lily's system.

The red-head nodded, touching her freckled nose to his and smiling into his lips. "I love you, too."

"Good." He grinned, bringing his arms around her waist to hold her closer as he press kiss after repeated kiss to her already swollen lips. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to hear you say that."

Lily didn't have the will to pull her lips away from his long enough to even say, "Me too." Somehow in the midst of it all her hair had come out of its ponytail and her foot had stopped throbbing. Adrenaline rushed through her in continuous bursts and she relished in the feel of James' hands on her waist, making their way under her shirt to the small of her back.

Suddenly, a crash and a cheer sounded from the room next door, and James looked up and Lily followed his gaze with a rather amused expression.

"You think we should be in there?" He asked reluctantly, gesturing to the door.

"At a party celebrating the victory of the prankwar?" Lily smiled, her hair brushing against his face as she once again leaned over him. "Nah. We've got better, more pressing things to do, don't you think?"

They smiled at one another, and as their lips met once again, James had no choice but to whole-heartedly agree with Lily; there really was nothing better to do at the moment than this.

* * *

"What's taking them so long?" Sirius groaned, looking at his watch and rolling his eyes. "The pair of them have been in there for over half an hour! How much more snogging do they need to do?"

"Think about it, Padfoot," Gracie began, smiling rather devilishly, "The two of them have been denying themselves from nine months worth of affection. Now they have got the opportunity to get out all that sexual tension. So ask yourself, how long do you think they need?"

The celebratory party was in full swing by now, and all students from all houses were crowded into the seemingly tiny Gryffindor common room (They had finally convinced the Fat Lady to let other students in.). No one seemed to be having a bad time, even with the noticeable absence of Head Boy and Girl.

Remus winced. "I'd rather not guess."

Emma nodded in agreement. "Hear hear. We don't even know what they're up to. They could be fighting, or ignoring each other, or claiming once again to be friends."

"Or," Sirius began sarcastically, "They could be shagging like rabbits in the Head's Dorm."

"Get your mind out of the gutter, you guys," A voice snapped from the staircase.

The friends turned to the source of the voice and all broke into cheers when they found Lily leaning on her crutches at the base of the staircase, James next to her, their hands firmly clasped within each others and both smiling like idiots.

"Took you long enough!" Gracie yelled, while Sirius pretended to get all teary eyed as he tackled James in a bear hug. "Now, come here, Lils, so we can discuss the stalemate done unto us!"

"Congratulations Mate!" Peter piped up, offering James a well deserved butter beer, which James took happily.

The Head Boy then stood on a table and demanded everyone's attention. "EVERYONE! Please listen!"

It took several minutes to get everyone to shut up, but eventually James had all eyes on him. "I just wanted to say thank you for making this prankwar such an ultimate success. We have decided that in the shocking event of the tie, we will not be forcing any team to follow the consequences."

Groans swam throughout the crowd, and someone suddenly shouted, "Why not make both teams do it?!"

James looked uneasily at his friends, who shrugged, not seeming to care whether the consequences were instated or not. Lily grinned and winked as if to say 'Give them a show'.

The Head Boy shrugged and said, "Alright! Tomorrow after classes in front of the Great Hall, alright? Be there to see the Marauderesses' identities revealed, as well as the makeovers that we, the Marauders will be receiving. Thanks for participating in the voting and all!"

James started to step down but someone called out, "To the Marauders and Marauderesses!"

"TO THE MARAUDERS AND MARAUDERESSES!" Everyone boomed back and took a swig from whatever drink was in their hand. The prankers grinned and joined in the toast.

To the Marauders and Marauderesses indeed.

* * *

The party that was held in the Gryffindor common room was soon to go down as the biggest party in the History of Hogwarts. Never before had three houses (Of course none of the Slytherins showed up) all piled into one common room and celebrated something until the crack of dawn. Even Sirius said it was a party to be proud of, because no one went to bed that night. It wasn't until McGonagall came in at about four in the morning with her hair up in curlers and shouted herself at hoarse at them was the gig up.

Of course, the Marauders and Marauderesses were forced to clean up the after effect of the party, picking up bottles and taking the younger students that had fallen asleep to bed.

"You'd have thought that McGonagall would have for once given us the slip and not yelled at us for something we did." Sirius groused, picking up a random text book that looked like someone had recently thrown up on it.

"Look at it this way," Gracie yawned colossally, "She kept us from expulsion and gave the prankwar its final score. We owe the madwoman quite a lot."

Sirius nodded, grey eyes scanning the rest of the common room for any signs of rubbish, but, seeing none, finally collapsed on the sofa next to Gracie, who smiled softly with her eyes closed.

"Did Lily and James take the last batch of first year Hufflepuffs back to their dorms?" She asked lazily, leaning back on the couch.

"If they did, I didn't hear them. And I'm pretty sure the others went up to bed." Sirius replied, watching the brunette out of the corner of his eye.

"Guess that leaves the two of us."

"Yep."

………

"Please don't try anything right now, Sirius. I'm in too good of a mood to kick your arse and too tired to reciprocate whatever move you're about to pull."

"Reciprocate?" Sirius' suddenly sat up, eyes wide, "Why Grace Harlow, did you just admit that you—"

"Don't push it." The brunette warned, standing up and walking away. She began to walk up the staircase, but not before turning back and giving Sirius a small, coy smile. "We'll discuss this when I'm more coherent, alright Black?"

The smile on Sirius' face could not have been bigger. "Deal."

Gracie went to her dorm and minutes later, with the expression of a zombie on too many cheering charms, Sirius went to his.

The sun began to rise just barely as Lily and James came stumbling into the common room, looking more tired than all their friends combined.

"Man, I'm exhausted." James complained, leaning over and toppling onto the couch with a sigh, his entire body covering the length of it.

Lily stood there, blinking sleepily at him and said, "Can you at least make it up to the Head's Dorm? I'd rather have you sleep in your bed." She started to reach for him to bring him up but he just yanked her down so she was lying on top of him, knocking her crutches aside. "AGH! James, you prat, let me up!"

James shook his head, making sure that his he did he nuzzled Lily's neck and held her closer. "Beds are totally overrated, Freckles, didn't you know that?"

"Says who?" The red-head yawned.

"Names are overrated as well," He replied and she laughed softly.

"Mmm." She nodded in semi-agreement as she kissed him firmly.

"You know," He said, pulling slightly away from her, "As much as a fan I am of this snogging thing, I think I should get some sleep. So tomorrow, I can snog you and not feel like falling asleep at the same time."

She smiled and nodded. "Agreed."

And with that said, the Head Boy and Girl immediately fell asleep, happily embracing the end of the prankwar and all the madness that transpired along with it.

* * *

The next day a crowd surrounded a small podium set up to the right of the Great Hall entrance. The Marauders stood on top of it, looking over the crowd with rather smug expressions. They had woken up three hours late to class, and still had trouble staying awake at the moment. Nevertheless, they were excited as anyone to finally wrap up the prankwar and reveal the Marauderesses.

The students in the crowd, already rowdy and anxious, started chanting, "CONSEQUENCE, CONSEQUENCE!" at the tops of their lungs.

Remus rolled his eyes at his friends and then proceeded to point his wand to his throat and mutter, "Sonorous."

"Attention, Ladies and Gentleman." Remus' voice rang throughout the corridor and silenced everyone. "Thank you all for attending the revealing of the Marauderesses and the making over of the Marauders, also known as the Prankwar Consequences!"

Cheers broke out and everyone whooped and hollered, but it was soon quiet again.

"As the Prankwar did indeed end in a tie, we will have to do both consequences for girls' team and boys' team. We'd first like to introduce our mysterious Marauderesses, who are hidden among you in the crowd. These three ladies have been wreaking havoc for you all since the beginning of the year. Ladies and gentleman, give it up for the Marauderesses!"

There was a tumultuous applause and then a silence as no one walked forward onto the podium. Students began to whisper amongst each other and look worried. Where were they?

Suddenly, there was a noise like a clap of thunder and bright light filled the room. Everyone had to cover their eyes as what seemed to be a shooting star swept through the room and landed on the podium.

And there, standing in their everyday school uniforms, were Grace Harlow, Emmaline Vance and Lily Evans (sans crutches. Her ankle was declared perfectly healed that morning by Pomfrey, bless her soul). Gasps, screams and 'WHAT?'s were heard throughout the crowd as the Marauderesses stood there, smiling

"Lily Evans is Freckles, Emma Vance is Midnight and Gracie Harlow is frown." Remus finished. "Give 'em a hand, guys!"

The entire student body seemed to have recovered from their temporary shock and promptly burst into huge applause. Chase Davies looked like he was in a comatose state. Angie White looked like she wanted to wrap her hands around all of their necks. It was as if the hall exploded and there was no way to stop the amount of noise coming from everyone's stomping feet and screaming lungs. The three girls joined hands and gave a great bow, which only seemed to drive the crowd more insane. Sirius, standing to the left of the girls muttered, "Show-offs."

"Now," continued Remus, helping somewhat with getting the crowd to simmer down, "As part of the consequences on our behalf, the Marauderesses will now give the boys makeovers."

James waved his wands and four chairs appeared on the stage as the Marauders took a seat.

"Do we really have to do this?" Peter whined pitifully as the girls closed in on them like a pack of starving wolves.

"Unfortunately so." Remus winced as he saw all three girls draw their wands.

"Do your worst, I'm not afraid." Sirius declared defiantly, jutting out his chin.

Gracie pinched his cheek. "Oh, don't worry, love. When I'm done with you, you'll be so afraid you won't be able to look yourself in the mirror."

James watched Gracie and Sirius with a wary eye before turning to Lily with a worried glance. "Lils, you are going to go easy on me, aren't you?"

His girlfriend said nothing, merely smiled like she had no intention of following his request whatsoever.

"Because," James continued, starting to get really nervous, "You love me. And you wouldn't want to ruin my beautiful complexion just for sport, would you?"

"Prongs," Lily began, "While I do love you, I have to say that consequences are consequences. A makeover is what you'll get. And, besides, your complexion isn't that fantastic, is it now?"

The Marauders spoke no more, merely closing their eyes and hoping they would come out of this at least semi-resembling male specimen.

* * *

"You know," Sirius began as he poked casually at his chest, "I've always wondered what it would be like to have breasts.

"And a beard to go with them," Gracie added, poking him in the stomach. "Please don't forget the beard."

"Of course, who could?" He agreed, stretching out on the couch and leaning against Gracie's shoulder. For once she did not pull away.

Lily, who was sitting on James lap on the big arm chair and playing with his long curly red locks said, "I don't think I ever realized how much my head looks like its on fire. I get why you used to tease me about that when we were younger."

"Shut up!" James snapped, pouting like a four year old as Lily laughed at him.

The rest of the day had transpired quite merrily, featuring all four Marauders resembling girls for the entire school to see, giving them their personal spotlight, though in not a very nice sense. The Marauderesses too, were completely given their own spotlight that featured many first years coming up and asking to get their autographs.

The girls found their new fame to be quite rewarding within itself. Because not only were they like movie stars to the students but to the teachers as well. Well, most teachers.

McGonagall had not said a word regarding the prankwar and how her vote had tipped the outcome, but if one were to look close enough, it was possible that they could see a ghost of a smile whenever someone mentioned the word 'Marauders' or 'Marauderesses' in her classroom.

The prankwar was officially over and to be honest, both Marauders and Marauderesses were glad to be rid of it.

"Emma," Remus suddenly walked over, looking rather awkward in the girly high heels he was wearing and addressing the violet-eyed girl as she scanned a book, "Can I talk to you?"

Emma looked up, shrugged in defeat and said, "Of course. Shall we take a stroll?"

Lily gave Emma an encouraging smile and Gracie snorted precariously as the two of them strode out of the Portrait Hole together.

"How long will we look like this?" James asked for what seemed to be the millionth time. He really hated the fact that he suddenly resembled Lily.

The red-head rolled her eyes and answered, "For the last time, anything that we added to you will fall off in the middle of the night. Your breasts will shrink and your hair will shorten and re-color itself."

Suddenly, Lily tensed as someone strode over to the group, blond hair swinging behind her.

"You bitch." Angelina White spat, glaring furiously at Lily. "It was you pranking me the entire time. To get to James and make me look bad."

Lily blinked innocently and then said. "You do enough of that yourself." She stood, facing Angie with a cool expression.

Angie scoffed, flicked her hair and looked at James. "Jamesie, you need to choose. I know you broke up with me while foolishly thinking that Lily Evans—after all these years—would actually have feelings for you. Pathetic. But, anyway, I want you to know that I am not going to wait around forever. Stop being friends with her and we can date again."

The blond looked like she completely believed every bit of crap that was coming out of her mouth.

James stood up to be next to Lily. "You honestly think that Lily and I are still just friends?"

"Of course," Angie replied, "I mean, the rumor is that you two are finally dating, but that's bullshit. Because everyone knows Evans wouldn't give you the time of day."

"Hate to break it to you;" Lily said smoothly, "But James and I are indeed dating."

Gracie and Sirius were watching the whole exchange with rather amused expressions. Neither of them saw a reason to interrupt. The other inhabitants in the common room watched as well, looking rather petrified as Angie seemed to swell with anger.

The sound of Angie's dropping jaw sounded like a faint 'POP'. She quickly recovered, looking disbelievingly at Lily. "You're not. You don't even like him."

James raised a skeptical eyebrow at the blond. How could he have possibly dated and snogged this girl?

Lily rolled her eyes. "Honestly, White, if I wasn't dating James, would I do this?"

She grabbed James' collar and pulled his face to hers, giving a slow and torturous kiss that surprised James as much as it pleased him. Gracie muttered, "Oh, damn!" while Sirius and Peter snickered. Emma and Remus, who had just entered the room, looked rather confusedly at the spectacle, and then proceeded to take seats next to their friends as if nothing was out of the ordinary whatsoever. Angie simply gaped; looking like a heart attack was inevitable.

When the red-head resurfaced from the kiss, she grinned wickedly at Angie. "Does that speak loud enough for you?"

Angie glared, muttered a few choice curse words, and stomped out of the common room, leaving the gang to laugh themselves hysterical at her.

James, however, scolded Lily. "If you kiss me like that in public ever again I can't guarantee my actions will be in my own control."

"Get used to it." She grinned, kissing him just so again.

"GET A ROOM!" Sirius and Gracie yelled simultaneously, glancing at each other wearily when they finished with an uneasy smile.

"You know," Said Remus, grinning happily at his friends, "It's hard to think about Saturday detentions when everything seems to be going so well. I mean, we both won the prankwar and have therefore achieved maximum fame in the school, teachers sort of love us, and we're somewhat becoming a legend of our own."

And despite Remus saying that and everyone agreeing, it came around to Saturday and everyone seemed to be dreading the very event of detention.

Lily and James were the first ones there, lining up outside Professor McGonagall's classroom and waiting in the quiet corridor. Most of the school was at Hogsmeade, a fact that didn't really bother James, seeing as at the current moment he was kissing his girlfriend in the middle of the corridor without anyone watching.

"Won't it be embarrassing," Lily reprimanded into his lips, "When our dear Transfiguration teacher comes out and sees such a spectacle?"

James pressed a kiss to her nose. "Let her come." He honestly had stopped caring about three days ago who saw him kissing Lily Evans. It was the mere act of kissing her that made him believe that he hadn't gone crackers and lost his mind and started hallucinating. This kind of happiness couldn't possibly be broken, despite the bunches of arguments he'd already had with Lily.

"OY!" Emma yelled, walking over with Remus and Peter. "Do us a favor and try not to burn our eyes out, will you?"

Lily laughed and kissed James one more long time just for kicks. Peter mimed gagging.

Five minutes later, McGonagall had still not shown up, neither had Gracie or Sirius.

"Maybe we should look for them…" Lily said worriedly, looking about the castle. "There is no way in hell they're going to miss detention."

Just as the group began to take off, Gracie and Sirius stepped into view from behind a tapestry that was around the corner. Gracie's face was flushed and her lips looked rather swollen, while Sirius' black hair looked properly mussed and his expression properly euphoric. Like Lily and James they held hands.

Everyone sort of gaped for a long time.

Sirius smirked at Gracie and then at his friends. "Yeah, yeah, the apocalypse has happened. Grace Harlow has finally agreed to go out with me."

The group collectively cheered as Gracie turned to Sirius and said, "You know, I don't recall you really asking me. I sort of just remember you coming up to me and saying 'I can't stand this anymore' and promptly snogging the life out of me."

"Think of it was me asking you out." Sirius replied breezily, running a hand through Gracie's brown hair (which was unmistakably down and hanging loosely about her shoulders).

"Oh." She looked thoughtful. "Then you can take my kissing back as an answer. A definite yes."

"Hm…" He tapped his chin pensively, grey eyes sparkling mischievously. "I don't seem to recall that part about the answer. Could you reiterate just once more?"

"Of course." The brunette agreed, closing her eyes and smiling as Sirius dipped her back and kissed her.

"Awwww……" Lily and Emma crooned, bursting into giggles as the boys stared rather hysterically

Gracie, still keeping all attention on her boyfriend, calmly flipped off her friends, whose mirth only tripped.

James looked amusedly at Lily. "Well, look at that. They lecture us on our public affection yet see no problem in performing it themselves. Bloody hypocrites."

The red-head merely kissed him on the cheek and whispered. "Don't be grumpy, Potter."

Gracie finally pulled apart from Sirius and cast a heavy glance in Emma and Remus' direction. "And what about you two? Did you get over your initial weirdness and fix your issues?"

Emma grinned and nodded. "We both agreed that it was better being just friends."

"Even though we both agree that each of us has true boyfriend/girlfriend potential." Remus finished, nudging Emma.

"So…no more problems for us to worry about?" Peter asked eagerly.

"Suppose not." James said, standing behind Lily and wrapping his arms around her. "No problems for us."

"Or so you think, Mr. Potter." Sounded a sharp voice from the end of the hallway. Professor McGonagall had finally made to show up. "Sorry I'm late; I had a staff meeting to attend."

Everyone's head hung, the internal balloons of happiness popped and gradually losing air at the thought of detention. They were sure to all be separated and given equally gruesome tasks that did not require magic. James' arms were already starting to ache at the mere thought of scrubbing cauldrons with a toothbrush.

McGonagall unlocked the classroom door and brought them all inside, motioning for the group to walk inside and nodding to each student individually.

"Have a seat." She announced as soon as they were all inside the classroom.

They sat. The outside sun seemed to be mocking them with a beautiful day.

"Now," McGonagall began firmly, readjusting a pin in her hair, "You know why you're here. Your punishment was not easy to pick, because I wanted something that would stick in your mind and remind you why you don't do things like…prankwars."

Silence. A fly buzzed by the blackboard.

"Every time a general offense happens in this school," The transfiguration teacher continued, pacing the class like a drill sergeant, "We have to document what happened. The offense, the story behind it, and the general picture."

She eyed everyone, who stared blankly back, clearly confused where this was leading.

"The thing about this particular offense, is that…well…we really don't know anything about it. The staff, I mean." Professor McGonagall began to look truly perplexed right now. "We don't know what started it, or what the reason was, or what on Earth was going through your heads when you carried this out. So, technically, we can't document an offense we know hardly anything about."

Lily sat up a little straighter, suddenly looking eager.

"So," McGonagall turned to the group as a whole, "That will be your punishment. Using no magic, you are going to document this entire affair. From the beginning to the end. You can include anything you want. You'll have three hours a Saturday to work on it as a group until the end of the year. That should be enough time. You can get parchment and quills from the filing cabinet next to my desk. Any questions?"

Another silence as everyone tried to make sense of what the hell is going on.

"What you're saying is," Sirius began, "All we have to do for our punishment is to write an autobiography of the last nine months?"

"Are you asking for a stricter punishment, Mr. Black?" McGonagall snapped.

Gracie, despite her new desire to snog him, kicked him swiftly under the table, making him grunt painfully. "No ma'am."

"Then you should be good to go. I'll be in my office if you have any questions, repairing the damage of the fireworks." With a pointed look at Lily and James, who shrank just slightly in their seats.

"Wait, Professor," Remus stood, "Does this mean that the document will go in the 'Student Offense' filing cabinet in Filch's office?"

"For the remainder of the next eon, yes Mr. Lupin." McGonagall replied. She began to walk off, but then turned again. "Oh, and I think I should tell you that there are no hard feelings."

"Hard feelings about the Prankwar?" Lily asked, trying to risk rolling her eyes. She herself had tackled down Professor McGonagall, and James had blown up her office. It was hard to believe there were no hard feelings.

"Our school has needed a fresh activity for quite a while." Was all the teacher said, smirking slightly. "I, for one, will never forget you pranksters in all my years in teaching here. That is for sure."

As soon as she left the room, Gracie announced, "That woman is mad. Stark raving mad."

Lily walked over to the cabinet and grabbed some parchment and quills. "This is the easiest punishment ever."

"You said it." Said James, waving his wand and drawing together two tables with seven chairs facing one another. "Writing a story about the prankwar? Piece of cake!"

"I like cake." Said Peter softly, taking a seat.

"We have to write a document, not a story." Remus grumbled.

"C'mon, Moony, where's your sense of fun?!" Sirius crowed. "This is going to be brilliant!"

"Alright," Emma began, "First things first. We need a title."

"Em," Remus whined, "It doesn't need a title! It. Is. An. Informational. Document."

"How about 'The Prankwar'?" Offered Gracie.

"Make it the Hogwarts Prankwar!" James added. "We want to specify."

"Of 1977!" Lily and Emma both shouted at the same time. "The Hogwarts Prankwar of 1977!"

"Wait." Remus was looking calculatingly at the table. "We need a beginning adjective, so that when people see this title, they know exactly how kick arse this prankwar was."

"Glad to see you're getting into the spirit of things." James clapped Remus on the back. "But what adjective should we pick?"

"Amazing!"

"Fantastic!"

"Serious!"

"No, I'm Sirius!"

Ten minutes later the group was still sitting there thinking of words to describe prankwar. When suddenly, Remus snapped his fingers and shouted. "Infamous! Meaning having a reputation for being bad, causing trouble."

"Perfect!" Emma turned to the page. "Alright, here it goes. The Infamous Hogwarts Prankwar of 1977."

"Sounds brilliant!"

"Who should we put the author as?" Emma asked, showing off the title page.

"Well, that bit is easy." Lily answered. "The Marauders and Marauderesses."

"Of course. Add a little mystery!" James agreed, squeezing Lily's hand.

Emma wrote it down, her smile getting increasingly bigger. "Okay, here's what we need to do first. Let's figure out where to start writing. We can take turns writing, but everyone needs to pitch in on details, whether it's dialogue or description."

Everyone nodded, ready to start.

Emma sighed and dipped the quill. "Okay, now lets think, where did this all start? Where did the idea of Marauders and Marauderesses start to form? I mean, what with the boys annoying the crap out of us and whatnot."

"Wait," James waved his hand, "We should back up just a little."

"Why?" Sirius asked. "We should get right into the action!"

"No, James is right." Emma agreed, nodding. "We need to give the reader some background history. Introduce them to the characters before the actually plot begins to unfold."

"Okay," Gracie said, "So, why don't we just start, like…two days before we decided to do a prankwar?"

"I have a better idea!" Lily announced much to Gracie's chagrin. "Think about it. We never would have gotten the idea of the prankwar if we hadn't started hanging out with the Marauders so much this year. So, we need to go back to the beginning of that."

Sirius groaned. "I don't even remember when you guys started hanging with us. It was so gradual. What could have possibly made Lily and mates start to want to be around James and the likes of us?"

The Head Girl smiled at James, making his stomach clench with a sudden up burst of butterflies. "I believe James knows."

James smiled at his girlfriend and then at all of his friends. "Well, you see, it all started one day in History of Magic. I was trying to talk to Lily because I needed to borrow her notes. I was practically yelling at her and she was ignoring me."

"Okay, do you remember what you said?" Emma asked.

"I think it was around the lines of 'Pssstt! Lily!'." The red head answered with a smile.

And with that answer, The Marauders and Marauderesses began to write their epic tale.

_"Psst! Lily!" James Potter stage whispered across the History of Magic Classroom...._

* * *

Three hours later, the friends stumbled out of McGonagall's classroom complaining of hand cramps and ink all over their clothes.

"It's not my fault you decided to chuck a bloody ink well at me!"Peter said angrily to Gracie, who merely patted him on the head and cleaned most of the ink off with a wave of her wand.

Emma swung her bag on her shoulder. "I'm off to the library. I need to do some more research on Peruvian Ginger Roots and their properties for that potions essay. See you guys later." She grinned. "Don't have too much fun without me."

"I'm going to sleep." Peter said decidedly. "Once I get out of my inky robes."

Remus. "I'm with you, Wormtail."

Sirius yawned, his arm mysteriously making its way around Gracie's shoulders. "As for me, I believe I have a date with some History questionnaires. Would you mind helping me, Grae?"

"Don't think that we'll be doing anything else but homework." She answered playfully, snaking her arm around his waist. "At least, until we're finished."

Lily smiled as her friends walked off, smiling even larger as James hugged her from behind and whispered. "And us, Lily dearest, what shall we do?"

She turned, knowing full-well her lips would somehow meet his halfway. "That depends. What do you want to do, Jamesie?"

James considered and grinned back at her as he thought of the perfect thing to do.

"You know," He answered slowly, tugging the end of Lily's hair lightly, "I'm feeling a sort of strong craving for cookie dough. You up for going down to the kitchens for a few minutes… or hours?"

Lily smiled into another kiss before announcing. "We might be missed."

"It's a risk I'm willing to take." James smiled, beginning to march off without Lily, eager for cookie dough.

"James?" He turned around to find her beaming at him.

"Yeah, Lil?"

She paused, walking up to him, then leaning close so his heart sped up and his vision seemed to blur. He honestly thought she was going to kiss him again.

"Last one there is a Flobberworm!" She yelled, already ten feet ahead of him by the time she finished saying it.

James blinked, shouted, "You're gonna pay for that one!" and took off, chasing after Lily Evans just like he had done for the past six years of his life. But unlike all the times before, he now knew that, for the first time in the history of chasing Lily, she would eventually let him catch up with her.

And that fact within itself made all the difference in the world, regardless of whether James Potter was a Flobberworm or not.

* * *

**A/N: And on to the epilogue.....you can review once you read that. :)**


	21. Epilogue: Twelve Years Later

**A/N: My giant, end of fic. authors note is at the bottom. Please read!**

* * *

"Sh! Filch will only be gone for a minute or so, so we've gotta knick what we can, alright, Fred?"

"Too right you are, George." A small boy with red-hair grinned to his twin as they quietly entered the Caretaker's office.

Once inside, the two first years looked about and decidedly chose a target of search. "Filing Cabinet." They both agreed.

It two seconds to jimmy the muggle lock (Having a muggle obsessed Dad made one rather adept at lock picking) and open the filing cabinet.

"Whoa!" Fred cried, reaching in and pulling out something, a small folded piece of parchment. The paper was blank, but somehow looked important. "What do you reckon this is?"

"Who cares? If it's in Filche's office under lock and key, pocket it!" George said excitedly.

They continued pulling out odd little objects, one by one and pocketing them. Suddenly, George went through the files and pulled out one in particular. This specific file was set apart from the others by the fact that it was the thickest, the most colorful (For some reason it was decorated with drawings of fireworks) and screamed 'Do not Touch' in the strictest sense. That made it all the more inviting.

The red-heads opened the document to the first page and looked at it eagerly.

"The Infamous Hogwarts Prankwar of 1977." Fred read aloud, his grin growing with each new word read. "Written by the Marauders and the Marauderesses."

"Who the bloody hell were the Marauders and the Maraudereses?" George asked excitedly, skimming through the many pages of the book.

"I can't believe we weren't there for that prankwar." Fred whined. "It sounds bloody fantastic."

A sudden bang, feline yowling and shouted curse caught the Weasleytwins' attention. George made to shove the document in his book bag but with all the other stuff he had put in there it didn't fit.

"We'll come back for it," Fred promised, "Tomorrow, same time."

They stuck the document back in the cabinet with its brothers and sisters and made sure the lock was reinstated. The two red-heads slipped out of the office, retreating from the nearing wheezing and shuffling that announced Filch's arrival.

"Who do you think actually wrote that thing?" George asked his brother as they ran back to the common room. "I mean these Marauders and Marauderesses sound top notch."

"Not to mention brilliant." Fred added. "But don't worry, we'll find out."

Unfortunately, they never did. The next day Filch had Professor Flitwick come into the office and install a set of security charms that only let him in, as well as Ms. Norris.

The story of the Infamous Hogwarts Prankwar of 1977 remained undiscovered for many years.

But, as James Sirius Potter soon discovered with several of his third year mates, every security charm has a loophole.

And every story (Even the seemingly nonexistent ones lurking in the bottoms of filing cabinets) has a right to be told.

* * *

**A/N: Well then. I guess it's time to say 'The End' and give you all my long, long story speech.**

**First off, I want to thank EVERYONE AND ANYONE who ever even clicked on the link to this story and decided to give it a chance. This was the first fic I wrote on this website a year and a half ago and it's been a crazy ride. I like to think that I've grown as a writer, because I look back at the first couple chapters of this and I can't believe its the same author that just wrote this whopper of a previous chapter. So, to all reviewers, favoriters, fans, editers, PMers, and even lurkers who upped my story stats, thank you so much! You guys got me to finally finish this story, even when I didn't want to continue! Thanks for your support, encouragement, and concrit.!**

**Second, I know that my decision from the outcome of the prankwar might not be what you liked, or wanted, nor may you have like how I wound up the story at all, but I have to tell you I've had this planned out from the beginning, and I didn't decide this at last minute at all. I know there are those that believe I lost my touch on the plot line, and that's okay, I just want you guys to know that when I wrote this story, I knew what I was doing the entire time.**

**Last but not least, even though I've gotten more then enough, I'd still like you guys to review. In said review, I want you to tell me everything you liked about the story or didn't like and what you thought about it as a whole, so in future fics. I can use your ideas and thoughts to grow even more as a writer. If you don't want to review, a PM will be fine as well! Also, on my profile will be a few other L/J one shots I posted recently, as well as info. on other updates. Check that out, yeah?**

**Once again,THANK YOU ALL for being there! You guys are the syrup on my waffles of life!  
****much love,  
****FieryBrunette**


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